Sisterhood
by Chi Haku
Summary: A mission that Ame saw as nothing more than an annoyance quickly turns sinister. With surprises lurking around every corner, and Envy for an older SISTER, she's in for more than a bumpy ride. EnvyOC EnvyAme EnvyxOC ON INDEFINITE HIATUS...again.
1. Assignment Day

Prologue

A sunny day in the middle of the rainy months in Central, and everyone was outside, trying to enjoy it. Even the usually shut and locked windows of the military HQ were open, coaxing in the warmth. The vendors, having disappeared for almost a month now, were back en masse, people surrounding them in huge groups. Women walked around with their friends or children, and sometimes both, with large sun hats on, pastel colored summer dresses adorning their figures. It was one of those days that would be gone quickly, but savored as long as it was there. Yes, even the one person known to hate the sun most was outside reading. Believe it or not, even Ame Kurotsuki could get tired of rain.

Said teen was sitting underneath a large tree, the boughs covering her in shade. Though she had grown tired of rain, she still refused to do much more than tolerate the sun. Every time the position of the sun moved, Ame herself would move over a bit to keep out of the accursed light. The girl was in entirely black, pink hair the only bright thing about her. She turned the yellowed page of her book, the faded writing almost clear in the half light.

A soft breeze flitted through Central, landing right on the path past Ame, ruffling her short hair. She could smell the rain on the wind, foretelling of how quickly this pleasant day would be gone. Brushing the few stray strands of hair out of her eyes, Ame continued to pour over the contents of her elderly book. She took no notice of the males that passed her, be they officers or pedestrians, all of whom stared down at her. It wasn't unusual to see a girl under a tree reading a book, but it was unusual to see a seemingly young girl with no guardian to be sitting under a tree reading a book that looked over a thousand pages, with the State Alchemist watch. But obviously, Ame wasn't particularly normal, nor did she wish to be.

Closing her book, Ame stood, brushing off her bottom in case she had gotten any grass on the seat of her pants. The teen began to walk in the general direction of the city square, book under her arm. Her graceful steps brought her halfway across the lawn she had been on, before she paused. A small girl bumped into her legs, taking a few steps back and rubbing her small forehead. She looked curiously up at Ame, cocking her head to the side in a cue manner.

"Hello there." Ame murmured. "Is your mother around here somewhere?"

The girl nodded and pointed to a young woman with flowing brown hair.

"Shall we go to her then?"

The girl smiled and grabbed Ame's outstretched hand. "Okay!" she chirped.

She lead the little girl over to her mother, making sure to pause at stop walks to let people pass in their cars. The girl's mother turned just as Ame stepped up next to her, beaming appreciatively.

"Thank you, my daughter tends to run off at times, I was just looking for her."

"Not at all." Ame said with a small smile of her own. "She's very cute."

The woman laughed. "Thank you! Everyone says she looks like me but acts like her father."

"I can see that." Ame knelt down in front of her and ruffled the girl's brown hair. "Keep close to your mother okay?"

"Okay! Thank you Miss!"

Ame waved once before starting back towards her old destination of the city square. She stopped again at the library and walked briskly up the steps. Walking up to the front desk, she held out her book.

"Could you hold this for me? I'm only half way."

"Half way?" the woman behind the counter chortled. "I know some adults who haven't even finished the first chapter without handing it back."

Ame smiled softly again. "I guess I'm just strange."

Waving to the librarian, she walked back outside, looking up to see some storms clouds quickly rolling in. Shaking her head, she stepped back onto the street and began to aimlessly walk in no direction at all, just going where her feet told her to. From behind her, there was suddenly someone yelling;

"Miss Ame! Miss Midnight Alchemist!"

Ame turned her head towards the sound of the yelling. A young officer, all decked out in uniform, stopping front of her, wiping his brow with the back of her hand. He smiled when his breath had calmed.

"Miss Ame, the Colonel requests your presence for a small meeting."

Ame raised an eyebrow. "Roy wants me?"

The male nodded.

"Alright then, lead the way."

Ame followed the young military man back to HQ, walking nonchalantly along the path up to the gates. She stepped into the halls, still ignoring the stares her presence bought. She bid farewell to the man who had told her to come and made her way through the halls to her superior's office. Saying a quick hello to Sheska, the teen walked into the more empty halls of the building. Instead of veering off to the Colonel's office, she made her way to one of the meeting rooms, where she could feel said man's aura.

Stepping into the room, Ame looked curiously around.

"You called for me Roy?"

The Colonel grinned and snapped his fingers in her direction. "There she is!"

"Duh. She just walked in the door."

Edward raised a hand in greeting from his seat. "Hello Ame!"

"Hello Edward, Alphonse."

The armor bodied Elric waved happily and motioned to a seat next to him.

Ame sat down in between the brothers, Edward hugging her almost instantly. She looked around the table, spotting everyone else she had expected. There was Havoc and Fury, Riza of course, never once had she left her superior's side, Hughes, and then there were the Elric's on either side of her. The teen cocked her head confusedly to the side.

"Roy? What am I here for?"

The elder male beamed. "I was hoping you would ask! Well, we're still waiting for some people, but they already know what's going on, so I must inform you!"

"Obviously." Ame said plainly.

"Well, it seems that there's some funny business going on in a certain mansion of a certain very rich man. And because there is not solid enough proof, I can't send in my men." Roy began.

"So then you're sending a State Alchemist? Why not Ed?"

The Flame Alchemist grinned. "I was just getting there! Now, there isn't a really good reason for Edward going, or I would be sending him. But there IS a reason for you going."

"Which would be??"

"Well, this guy loves children. A lot. Especially siblings who love each other a lot. So, we figured, if we said you were going around houses looking for a good foster family with your elder sibling, he would be more than happy to take you in!"

Ame held up a hand. "Let me guess, he said absolutely."

"Yes!" Roy said, beaming.

The teen looked to her friends for some kind of confirmation, and all she was met with was huge grins. She turned slowly back to the womanizing alchemist.

"Okay, what's the catch,"

Roy cleared his throat, looking like he was about to choke on his laughter.

"W-well, it appears that there is another group that wants the eradication of all this, so we've teamed up with them." he cleared his throat. "One of them is to be your "elder sibling"."

"Uh-huh…" she mumbled. "Who is it…?"

"Ummmm….. Well….You know them."

"That REALLY narrows it down." she said sarcastically.

"They are male."

Ame nodded. "M'kay…"

"They really annoy you most of the time…."

"How much is "most of"?"

"Almost always."

That was Edward and Alphonse off her list.

"You get in fights a lot…"

"Okaaaaaay…."

Still not narrow enough.

"They tend to smirk instead of smile."

"Right."

"They have long hair."

There went Russell.

"You usually wouldn't be working with them…"

"Continue."

"And they look like a girl."

Ame paused, thinking it over.

*I know them, they're a male, they annoy me almost always, we get in fights, they smirk a lot, they have long hair, I don't usually work with them, and they look like a girl…… but that only sounds like…..*

Ame's eyes grew huge. "Whoa- wait. It's not…"

A pair of arms suddenly snaked around her shoulders from behind, someone's chin resting on her left shoulder.

"That's right foxy." purred a sultry voice in her ear.

The teen shot up, dislodging the person and flipping over so she landed on the open window's sill. She stared wide eyed at the people who had just entered, focusing on the one who was standing behind her one time chair.

"Oh no….Oh god no….. **NOT ENVY!!!!!!!!!!!**"


	2. Chapter One

The Worst Possible Outcome

Ame was sitting in a red seat somewhere in the back of the train, staring blankly out the window. Part of her really didn't believe she was going, and that was added to by the fact that Envy wasn't there yet. She could feel the train warming up, getting ready to start its trek out to the country, and she was aware that the whistle would blow soon. The teen thought back to what seemed like eons, but was really only about nine hours ago.

-Flashback-

I stalked darkly out of the meeting room, my aura murderous. I was sure to glower at my superior on the way out, then hit Edward with the heel of my hand on his forehead. I would have done the same to Al, only it wouldn't have had the same effect. Or any at all really.

"Aw~ Don't be so mad sweets~"

I growled dangerously low, grabbing Envy's outstretched hand before it could touch me.

"Screw off Homunculus bastard."

"Ouch. That one hurt."

I could hear the smirk tainted hurt in Envy's voice and growled again. A pair of lithe arms wrapped around my neck and I felt someone nuzzle me.

"Don't be so mean." he purred.

I ground my teeth together, clenching my fists, but not loosing my temper.

"Let go of me or I swear to god, I will hurt you somewhere you don't particularly want to be hurt."

He let me go.

"Okay, okay. I was just kidding around."

I continued my angered walk down the hall, even though I could feel eyes on my back, most likely belonging to Envy. I made sure to swing my hips just a little more, just to annoy him. From behind me there was a sound something akin to a groan and I smirked.

"Hope you're having pleasant thought's Envy~" I sang as I turned the corner.

I should probably learn not to do that. It might get me into some serious trouble one day.

Anyway, I continued out of the building, thoughts of murdering Roy in my head. Honestly, of all the people… ENVY?! Was there something just mentally wrong with him? He knew how much I hated the palm tree-looking Homunculus…And how much Envy attempted to molest me. The other Homunculi I could stand. Heck, I kind of got along with Lust when we weren't fighting one another, and Wrath seemed to like me. I don't think I could have gotten very far with Gluttony, but he wouldn't leave Lust, so he kind of wasn't on my list. But seriously. Of ALL the seven Homunculi, Roy just HAD to choose ENVY. If I got sexually harassed because of him I swear to god I'd castrate that flame pony.

Breathing in and calming myself down, I waved to Sheska, who smiled and returned it, then turned and walked out. The steps of Central HQ had never seemed so very long of a walk before now, the one time I wanted to get away from the building quickly. I practically ran down the stairs and started darting through the streets in an effort to get as far away from Envy as humanly possible. I knew that he was probably following me as a bird or something, but that didn't mean I was going to acknowledge his presence.

I thought quickly, running over the things I would need on this assignment. Hughes had been nice enough to inform me that this was going to last for an indefinite amount of time, from a week to six months. I hoped it wasn't the latter, six months with Envy was a terrifying thought. Because honestly, I could barely stand that five minutes in the meeting with him, Sighing, I raised my hands over my head and cracked my back. First things first, I had to get my book, otherwise I would have nothing to do for a very long time.

I made my way back to the library, wishing I hadn't dropped my book off in the first place, then thinking that it was probably a good thing, because there was another book I wanted to get. Walking up the steps to the library, I caught a glance of a black pigeon that had just landed on the banister next to me. I glared at it.

"I know that's you Envy." I muttered. "Screw off."

The pigeon's eyes flashed violet and then it flew off. I watched it go, making sure that he wasn't still here. After I could no longer see him, I turned back to my original goal and walked into the massive building. I went directly to the horror section, and began to look for a book I hadn't read before. Grabbing two new books, I turned around, squeaking when Edward was suddenly behind me.

"Holy shi-" I slapped my hand over my mouth and quieted myself. After a second, I continued in a whisper. "Where the hell did you come from?!"

"Weeeell, back before my dad was a complete ass he and my mother loved one another very much and-"

"Forget I asked."

Edward laughed and I glared at him in annoyance.

"What are you here for?"

"Just thought I'd read some, and then I saw you. By the way Aa-chan, what do you think of spending a week or more with Envy?"

I groaned and hit my head against one of the book shelves.

"Don't remind me Ed…"

He laughed again and patted my back.

"You'll survive. Catch you later."

I groaned again as he walked off, trying not to think about spending time with the annoying green haired… Homunculus/Transvestite/Hermaphrodite whatever the hell he/it is. Laying my books on the counter, I waited for the librarian to get back. When she stepped out of her small office and noticed me, she smiled and walked over.

"Back already?"

"Yeah." I smiled slightly. "I'm going to be gone for a bit, so I'm getting some books to occupy me."

She nodded and began recording what I borrowed. "And I guess you want the other one too?"

"Yes please."

She finished her recording and handed me my three books.

"Thank you." I said with a small smile.

"Not at all, and Ame?"

I turned my head, looking over my shoulder at her. "Yes?"

"Be careful okay? I know that it's not very easy to do that in your line of work, but please try."

I blinked in surprise, then grinned.

"Alright, I will be."

*Though it will be hard with Envy around…*

I waved to her and walked out.

-Mini-Timeskip-

It was around 9 o'clock pm, and I was packing up my stuff. I had a suitcase and a my messenger bag, the suitcase almost full. I put in my last shirt and stood up and looked around my room. The window was open, the night air wafting into my usually stuffy room. I was wearing a white tank top and a pair of gray sweat pants, which were too big for me. I stretched my arms over my head, just as I had earlier that day, and cracked my neck.

I sighed in slight annoyance at the fact that I had to wake up at around three to get to the train station to catch my train at five. And truth be told, I probably wouldn't be able to get to bed till twelve or one.

*Almost done…Packing anyway. Stupid Roy, making me finish my paperwork before I leave…*

Turning around, I leaned down to pick up a piece of paper that had fallen to the floor from my desk. I sighed and stacked it on top of the rest of my paperwork, putting a book on top of it to make sure they didn't fly away again. I paused, suddenly realizing that there was no breeze to blow the paper away. And that was just weird, because I knew the window was open, and I knew there was a nightly breeze. I clenched my teeth together, hoping the thought that had just gotten into my head was wrong.

I groaned when I saw the figure sitting in my window, blocking the air.

"What do you want Envy?"

He smirked. "I can't just say hi?"

"You can." I put my hands on my hips. "But you're not."

"True enough."

Envy stepped into my room and I growled low in my throat.

"Easy there foxy."

He smirked and sat down on my bed.

"What do you want? Hurry it up, I've got stuff to do." I said in an annoyed voice.

"Just making sure you're not running away."

I gestured to the paperwork on my desk. "And leave THAT? No. Now go away."

Envy shrugged and lay down on my bed. "Dun feel like it."

I closed my eyes, trying to keep my temper, unfortunately, I apparently failed as there was a loud yelp from the direction of my window and a loud thud. I walked over and looked down, seeing Envy sitting up from his long fall, rubbing his head. I shut my window and locked it quickly, taking deep breaths to calm myself. Sometimes having power over the wind wasn't such a great thing. But then again, it was Envy, so who cared?

Three hours later, with no more visits from Envy, I fell into bed, only to wake up four hours later.

-Flashback End-

Ame looked up as someone stopped next to her seat. She inwardly groaned at the sight of Envy grinning at her, back pack slung over his shoulder.

"Thought I wouldn't come?"

"Hoping actually."

He just kept grinning, sitting down across from her and putting his bag down next to him. He was wearing a loose black turtle neck and a pair of black jeans instead of his usual attire, which she was thankful for. He would have attracted much more attention otherwise, and that was the last thing she wanted.

The train whistle blew, but above it, she heard a loud;

"OI! AA-CHAN!"

AMe looked out the window to see Edward, Ling, Roy and Riza all waving at her.

"See ya Ame!"

"Don't let him screw with your head!"

"Try not to kill one another!"

"Remember to look out for yourself!"

She waved back, smiling lightly, as the train started to move. A few seconds later and her friends were out of sight with the station, along with whatever remotely sane part of her life existed. Turning back from the window, she looked over Envy, who was still gazing out at the slowly lightening sky. For some reason, she didn't look away from him as he rested his chin on his palm. His hair caught the light, showing off its green highlights. Ame couldn't help but think of how much Envy looked like a girl with his slender but toned figure and long hair.

"Like what you see?"Ame was taken aback to find that Envy had noticed her, but collected herself quickly.

"Why would I?" she asked in a harsh voice.

"No need to be mean." he smirked. "We're gonna be together for a long time, so get used to me foxy."

She growled again and turned away from him. Ame could just imagine his smirk, but instead of responding, she reached under her seat and pulled out her bag. She pulled out her book, then placed her bag next to her. Flicking open the page she had been on, Ame proceeded to ignore Envy's existence and read.

Twenty minutes later, the sun now raising itself tiredly into the sky, a conductor came shuffling down the aisle, asking for tickets. Ame extracted her ticket from her pocket and held it out to the elderly man. He peered at it from behind is brass frame glasses, his gray mustache twitching. He clipped it and handed it back, stepping up to Envy's seat. Ame inwardly groaned, hoping Envy even HAD a ticket, and was astonished when he smiled pleasantly and held out his ticket to the man. Upon receiving his clipped ticket, Envy slipped it back into his pocket and settled back into his seat.

Ame stared in wonder, pondering HOW Envy had pulled that kindness off. Or maybe it wasn't really Envy….That would make more sense. It was around then that said male noticed her staring.

"What??"

"Since when can you be that nice?"

He blinked in seeming surprise. "I'm always nice!"

Ame gave him a skeptical look until he caved.

"Alright, so maybe I'm not around most people. But I CAN be nice. And like a normal 16 year old teenager."

The demonic girl stared at him in minor confusion, then shrugged.

"I hope you're going to be at least a LITTLE nice while we're together, I don't have the self-control to put up with you."

The sin laughed. "I'll try, but teasing you is mighty fun."

Ame chose not to respond, and instead of pestering her, he reached into his own bag and pulled out a book. He leaned back in his seat and started to read, much to the teen girl's surprise. She shook her head, fascinated at how one person could be so very different from moment to moment, and went back to reading.

"What're you reading…?"

"…You care?"

"Yes."

She looked at him skeptically, but marked her page and held out the book to him. The violet eyed boy took the offered book and read over the cover. He opened to the first page and seemingly skimmed through it. Ame watched, fascinated all over again, as he started to mouth out what he read, his lips just barely moving. She couldn't believe this was the same loud, evil, cruel Homunculi who she fought on a normal basis with her best friend. He was far too composed and silent, and he looked too much like a normal teenage boy. It was like someone had taken Envy and replaced him with….A good Envy. A really nice, really interesting, cute E-

*I DID NOT JUST ALMOST THINK ENVY WAS CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

'Yes you did.'

*NO I DIDN'T!!!!!*

'Yes you did.'

*SHUT UP!*

Ame shook her head quickly, ignoring the snickering voice in the back of her mind.

"Wow."

The teen snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Envy again.

"What?"

"I said wow, I mean, this is a pretty advanced book. Even for fantasy."

"Um…yeah…" she took her book back, rested it on her lap. "The woman at the library said there are some adults who haven't finished it…But I think it's an interesting storyline."

She could hardly believe she was actually having a conversation, an INTERESTING, MATURE, conversation!, with Envy of all people. Previous "conversations" had consisted of taunts and threats, trash talking and lots of yelling. It was hard to imagine, even for one who was experiencing it first hand, that this was the same pair of people who were always making attempts on one another's lives.

"You're very smart, aren't you?"

Ame stared at Envy in confusion, utterly perplexed by his statement.

"Sorry, sorry. Just a random thought. I was just thinking over the things I know about you. State Alchemist by age 12, walks around with Edward Elric and helps him with his research, minor war hero, and all by age 14."

She shrugged, looking away. "It's not like there's anything else I can do. Edward and Alphonse gave me a chance to do something to make a difference, demon or otherwise, and I decided I'd take the chance of only ever having those two. And somehow I ended up a State Alchemist, a dog of the military."

The Homunculi visibly shuddered. "How DO you stand that? I would HATE having the military boss me around. Father's bad enough."

"For me, it's worth it."

Ame saw him look over, he being the confused one this time.

"I grew up without anyone." Ame continued. "No parents, no siblings, no friends, no guardians. Nobody loved, or cared about me. Edward and Alphonse were the first ones to acknowledge that I exist, that I'm not just dirt under everyone else's feet."

"You'd even become a dog of the military for them."

She nodded.

"I don't think I'd ever be able to do that." Envy mumbled, looking out the window with her. "I can't imagine anyone I care about that much."

"Not even Lust, or your mother?"

He shook his head. "No. We may seem like a family, but we're pretty distant from our parents. And sure I love my siblings, well, maybe not Pride, Greed and Gluttony, but the others I do love! But, not enough to do anything as major as drop my freedom for them."

Ame chuckled. "I had no freedom to drop. It was go with them or die young and alone from abuse."

Ame could feel Envy's eyes on her, trying to find something, searching her for it. It was like he was seeing through her, but at the same time, unable to see her at all. She just ignored him, not wanting him to see the emotions swirling around inside her right now, because there was a whole damn lot of them. She sighed and opened her book again, officially claiming the conversation OVER. There was a rustle from the direction of Envy's seat and she guessed he'd gone back to whatever he'd been doing.

*Good. Now maybe he'll leave me alone.*

--Timeskip--

"LAST STOP-ARINFEILD! LAST STOP!"

Ame had already put her book in her bag, and was hoisting the black strap over her shoulder.

"Oi! Envy! It's our stop!"

When there was no response, Ame turned to whack him, and stopped. He was asleep, head resting against the window. His lips were slightly parted, breathing fogging the window slightly, eyelashes fluttering. Ame was shocked at how innocent and sweet he looked, more like the age his body was. There was a faint blush on his cheeks, probably from how cold the train had gotten in the last hour or so. It took the young teen a minute to remember that this was Envy, and this was their stop.

"Wake up baka." she hissed, hitting her knuckles against his head.

Envy blinked his eyes blearily open and sat up. "Wha?"

"We're here idiot."

He was up in a second, bag over his shoulder. "Let's go then."

Ame raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had been asleep at all, then turned and started down the aisle. She could hear him following up behind her, but didn't look back to see if he was close. Nodding to the man who had taken their tickets and smiling lightly, she stepped out of the train and onto the concrete floor of the outdoor station. It was around three in the afternoon, the sun high in the sky. Sliding through the crowd, she managed to get her suitcase and get out of the crowd all at once. Leaning against the side of a bench on the other side of the station, she waited for Envy to catch up.

Two minutes or so later, he was right next to her, one bag over his shoulder, the other in his hand.

"Shall we foxy?"

Ame inwardly groaned. *And here I thought he had changed.*

"Sure, palm tree."

"Ouch. That hurt."

"Shut up."

She walked towards a taxi, raising her arm and waving it down, not even remotely caring if Envy was following her.

-Timeskip-

"We're here kiddo's."

Ame could hear Envy sigh in relief and open his cabbie door, obviously glad to be out of the car. The teen left in the car leaned forward and gave the cabdriver his money, thanking him for the ride.

"Hey, girl."

Said girl looked back at him, just about to open the car door. "Yes?"

"Be careful, okay? He's nice to kids, the owner of that house, but be careful. He's not good news."

Ame stared, then nodded. "Understood, thank you sir."

She got out and stood, throwing her bag back over her shoulder. There was a curt whistle from her right and she looked over at Envy, who was standing with both their suitcases. He rolled her suitcase forward and held out the handle to her, which she obligingly took. For a brief moment, their fingers touched, and both just kind of froze, almost as if paralyzed. Ame was the first to move, retracting her hand and taking her suitcase from the male's hand.

"Let's go." she mumbled, feeling very awkward for some reason.

They made their way up the long walkway to the mansion, Ame scanning the scenery. Behind them, the huge iron gate slammed shut, making them both jump and turn to look at it. They exchanged a swift glance, then continued walking. The walk wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't fun either, as it was mostly uphill. Neither spoke though, as now the moment was upon them, and they had no choice but to start working together. Finally reaching the front doors, they exchanged another glance, and both nodded.

Envy raised his hand and rang the doorbell, dropping his hand almost immediately afterward as if burned. There was a slight pause, then a woman in a maid's uniform opened the door, her kind blue eyes looking them over. She had blonde hair and peach skin, and kind dimples to match her smile.

"Are you the siblings who will be staying?"

"Yes ma'am." Envy chirped in a much more innocent voice than usual.

"Oh aren't you just DARLING!" she purred. "The Master's going to LOVE you!"

Envy smiled kindly and took Ame's hand. "I'm sorry if my sister doesn't speak, she's very shy!"

*Nice cover Envy.*

"Oh it's not a problem at all!" the maid gestured them inside. "Come in! Come in!"

The maid led us inside, where there was a tall man walking down the stairs, adjusting his jacket. He had slicked back black hair and brown eyes, his cheekbones were slightly prominent and his skin was an olive color. In all honesty, he was rather handsome, but that didn't calm a certain kitsune down. The man spotted them and grinned.

"My goodness, aren't they just adorable!" he cooed, walking up to them. "I'm lucky!"

Envy smiled and Ame pretended to stare at her shoes shyly, while really looking around the room.

"So you two are the sisters~!"

"Yes!" Envy said instantly.

At the same second, without their expressions changing at all, Envy and Ame thought the exact same thing.

*Wait… **WHAT**?!?!?!?!*


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N: **HA_HA_!!!! I'M NOT DEAD! AND NEITHER IS THIS STORY! REJOICE! *does dance, but gets hit by a hailstorm of bricks* Ow. Okay, yeah, so, maybe that was the slowest update in the history of ever. I'M SO SORRY! I got bored and found this half-written chapter. The next one should be out soon-ish. Otherwise Sumi-chan (Sumi x3), Catherine-chan (The Waterfall Alchemist) and Devil-chan (devil-snow on deviantart) will all hurt me.

Eri

"What the hell was that Envy?!"

"What do you mean "What the hell was that"?!"

"Hello! We were NOT supposed to be sisters! WHY DID YOU AGREE?!"

"I was in shock! I thought I was supposed to be your older brother!"

"Likewise! Why the hell didn't you henge?!"

"Cause I thought I was supposed to be a boy, not a girl!"

Ame and Envy continued glaring at each other, their surroundings forgotten.

Both stood in a large room decorated in red velvet. The plush carpet was of a quite maroon, and the curtains were more of a sunset red, while the bed sheets were bloody rose. It was a beautiful room, lavishly decorated, showing off the owner's wealth. The windows were almost as tall as the ceiling, with oak window seats covered in cushions. There was a canopy bed, with bedside tables on either side, and huge pillows. In one corner there was a roll top desk made of mahogany, right next to one of the windows.

Obviously, neither Ame, nor Envy noticed any of this at all.

"So what do we do, hm?"

"I'm supposed to know?"

"Well you can't very well change forms now. They've all seen you."

"Exactly, so I just have to stay in this form!"

"BUT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY BOOBS!"

"I'm flat-chested."

Ame sighed and flopped down onto the bed.

"Tired foxy?"

"No. Just annoyed. Now I'm stuck with a sister. Who is you. Joy."

"Don't be mean." Envy said with a pout.

"Speaking of you having to be my sister." Ame said, sitting up again. "We have to give you a name now."

"Why?"

"Well you can't very well be Envy, now can you?"

Envy nodded, then cocked his head to the side.

"So what to name me?"

Both fell into silence as they thought over the puzzle. Ame was the first to speak up.

"It should be something easy to remember."

"And kind of like Envy."

"Feminine though."

"And short."

They both lapsed into silence once more. Minutes passed, then Ame spoke up.

"Eri."

"Eh?"

"Eri. That should be my sisters' name. Eri. It's like Envy, easy to remember and feminine."

"Eri…" Envy mumbled. "Yeah. I think I can remember that."

At that moment there was a soft knock on the door. Envy went to open it, immediately putting on a soft smile. Opening the door, we were faced with yet another maid. She smiled and spoke;

"Well you are just as darling as everyone's been saying! I'm Lacy, and you two are?"

"That's my little sister Ame, and I'm Eri." Envy said with a smile. "Is there something you need Lacy-san?"

Ame could see Lacy covering up the urge to giggle, or maybe hug Envy, and smirked.

*Wonder how long he'll be able to keep this up.*

"Ahem, yes, well. The Master requested that you two take a bath before dinner."

Envy nodded.

"Should we finish unpacking first?"

"Oh no, you can do that later. Just bring a change of clothes. Nothing fancy, mind you!"

As Envy turned, he was met with Ame was smiling and holding out clothes to him.

"Here Nee-san, I heard what miss Lacy said and got you some clothes!"

Envy looked surprised, but quickly recovered.

"Thank you Imouto." he said, ruffling her hair.

Ame giggled and Lacy giggled along with her, obviously totally taken with the two of them already.

"Please follow me!"

Ame and Envy did as told, padding softly after the maid. She led them down one floor, to the second floor, and walked them down a hall. She opened the door for them and pointed inside.

"The bath is prepared, just get on in. Someone will be in to wash your hair for you."

"Thank you!" both Envy and Ame chirped at the same time.

The door was closed, and they were left to themselves. Envy looked around curiously, violet eyes filled with fascination. The floors and walls were made of marble, and the lights hung from directly above them in great crystalline cylinders. It was a very beautiful room, filled with the smell of lilac and roses, with a hint of vanilla. The Homunculi smiled to himself, very much liking this room to the cramped one back home.

"Oh you're fucking KIDDING me…"

Envy turned around in confusion. "What?"

Then he saw the bathtub, carved into the floor. The one. Single. Bathtub.

"Hell no…"

"We are so…"

"Not…"

"Bathing…"

"Together."

Ame and Envy both stared in shock at each other.

"Someone's coming in to wash our hair."

"They'll expect the "sisters" to be in the bath together."

"…"

"…"

Their eyes widened and they said in unison;

"FUCK."

Ame jumped back and glared at the elder male.

"No. Just NO. I am SO NOT taking a bath with YOU."

Envy coughed embarrassedly as everything set in.

"W-well…" he mumbled. "We could…" he blanked. "Juuuust go with it."

Ame turned red. "Turn around."

Envy stared blankly. "Why?"

"So I can get IN you jackass."

It was the male's turn to go red.

"R-right."

He turned around and waited patiently for her to finish getting undressed. A rather… UNCOUTH thought flashed momentarily into his head and he gasped.

*BAD ENVY! VERY BAD! NO THINKING THAT! AT ALL! EVER! NO!*

He shook his head from side to side, just as there was the soft sound of water rippling. He swallowed.

"Caaaan I turn around."

"Yes. And thank god for bubbles."

Envy turned, glancing at Ame momentarily. Then around the room in embarrassment.

"So…What am I supposed to do?"

"Get undressed and get in."

Envy smirked.

"Why foxy, since when are you so dirty~?"

"Shut up perv!" Ame glared. "I'm turning around!"

His smirk widened.

"Aw~ You dun wanna watch me~?"

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I?!?!?!"

Ame spun around, hiding herself up to her nose in the water. The second teen chuckled, pulling off his shirt. He stripped down and slid into the water, making sure he sat on the opposite side of the tub. Well, it wasn't JUST a tub. It was more like a huge hot tub which you bathed in, carved into the marble floor.

"You can turn around now."

Ame did, slightly reluctantly. She looked over at Envy, raising herself so you could see from her collar bone up.

"…"

"What?"

She shook her head.

"Envy, from the shoulders up, you really do look like a girl."

"Oh shut up."

Ame giggled, raising her hand to cover her mouth.

There was a moment of absolute shock from Envy, as he had never seen Ame laugh, or smile for that matter, and then he turned to hide his blush. He didn't know exactly WHY he was blushing, but something about Ame's giggle just made him blush. It sounded like tinkling bells, only prettier.

*Oh my god that was so CUTE!*

"Envy???"

He turned back to her, calming his blush. The male opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door. Both snapped their mouths shut, Envy sinking farther down into the water.

"May I come in to wash your hair?" called a female voice.

"Y-yes!" Ame yelled.

The door opened and the woman walked in. She was the same maid who had greeted them when they first arrived. She smiled.

"Hello, my name's Reena. I saw you before, but I don't know your names."

"I'm Eri." Envy said with a smile. "And she's my little sister Ame."

Ame nodded to the woman shyly, sinking further under the water. The elder female laughed.

"Alright, I'll start with your sister's hair then." she smiled. "I promise I won't hurt you."

*I wasn't worrying about that, but good to know…* Ame thought.

Ame was surprised to find that Envy didn't object to his hair being touched, and actually seemed to enjoy it. He chattered with Reena, talking about the house and trivial things. The younger watched as he dunked his head under, then came back up, only revealing his shoulders, shaking his hair slightly. The long locks were now plastered to his skin, shining with droplets of water.

"Your turn now Ame!"

Ame nodded and let Reena start in on her hair, massaging her scalp. Envy and the maid continued talking, leaving Ame to look around the room. There were no signs of video cameras, much to her surprised joy, but there was a huge window. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was tinted, so one could look out, but no one could look in.

*So far, nothing really incriminating…Not that I would expect anything like that in a bathroom.*

"Time for a rinse!"

Ame ducked under the water, closing her eyes so as not to get soap in them, and not to see Envy. Coming back up, she shook her head slightly, blinking her eyes open. Ame looked up and smiled.

"Thank you very much!" she chirped.

Reena got up and waved, leaving the room.

Ame ran a hand through her hair, looking where but at Envy.

"Well." he said, making a sculpture out of bubbles. "This is awkward."

"No, not at all. After all, I bathe with my arch-nemesis's everyday!"

Envy blinked in surprise.

"You do?"

Ame deadpanned.

"I was being sarcastic smart one."

"Oh. Right…"

Ame sighed.

How was she supposed to survive with THIS for a sister?

---

After another agonizing fifteen minutes in the baths, complete with perverted remarks from Envy and the renewing of the bubbles, they were back in their room. Their backs were turned to one another as they changed clothes, or at least, Ame hoped Envy's back was turned.

She tugged a dark blue shirt and a black skirt on, running a hand through her too-long bangs. Turning to the mirror, she ran a brush through the same portion of hair she had just touched. She glanced at her eyes, for once, hating their dark color. If they were purple like her supposed sister's, they might be a tad more believable.

Honestly, she wondered how that man had believed them at all. There were no similarities between her and "Eri" as far as she was seeing. Pale skin, and that was about it, their bodily builds were different and everything. Face shapes too, and attitudes, and…well. Everything.

Ame groaned.

"Wha's up foxy?"

The young girl ran a hand over her face.

"You DO realize how fucking different were look right?" she grumbled, turning to face him.

Ame's eyes widened, and she kind of choked.

Currently, she was getting an eyeful of a shirtless Envy, complete with pants unbuttoned and hanging low on his slender hips. She turned back around, blushing.

"Put some clothes on." she growled.

Envy laughed.

"Sorry, shoulda warned you. Anywho, yeah, I noticed that too. Not much we can do though right?"

"True but…" she glared at herself in the mirror. "All we have in common is our SKIN."

"I've seen siblings with less in common than that." Envy shrugged, which Ame saw over her shoulder in the mirror. "When and doubt we can say I was adopted before your parents died."

"YOU were adopted?" she turned as he pulled his shirt on.

"Yeah. I was adopted." he grinned wryly. "It just feels better. I mean, I'm the one who never had parents here. You HAD them, even if they're dead, so, it just kinda sounds better, ya know?"

Ame blinked as Envy turned away, rummaging around his suitcase for something.

This was the second time today that she had heard the palm tree haired boy being serious. And not just serious, kind of sad, empathetic, dare she say it…human. Actually, a little like Edward did sometimes.

Ame shook her head.

*NO COMPARING ENVY TO EDWARD!* she inwardly berated, but she hardly meant it.

"Ah-HA!"

Looking up, she caught Envy grinning in triumph. In his hand, he was holding his headband that he always wore as a Homunculus.

"Envy…" Ame said, with a kind of half-deadpan.

"Yeah?" he said.

"You can't wear that."

He pouted.

"Why not?!"

Instead of answering, she just pointed to the mark on the front, the three circles connected to make a triangle.

"Oh. That." Envy brightened up again. "No problem!"

He turned the headband inside-out.

"There!"

Ame shook her head.

"You amaze me."

She froze when she realized what she had said. But by that time, Envy was already smirking at her.

"Do I now?"

Deciding that at this point it was smarter to ignore him, Ame went back to putting her things away, accompanied by the chuckles of her "sister".

---

If Envy had thought that the bathroom was impressive, then their room was more impressive. And if their room was impressive, this room was about twenty five times that.

The dining room was more like a dining hall, complete with high windows and stone walls. The table wasn't particularly big, but it wasn't totally small either. It was bigger than Envy was used to at the least.

The lights were a dim golden, glancing off the dark glass of the windows and dancing off the stones. The outside world had grown dark, making the light all the more striking, coupled with the soft glow of candles.

The table was heavily laden with food and drink, as though a whole army was going to be eating, not just one man and two children. The main dishes seemed to be chicken and roast potatoes, with fresh cider and a tossed green salad.

Envy sat next to Ame, actually glad for her company at the moment. He was completely uncomfortable in their current situation.

Giant monsters, Alchemists, Chimeras, Homunculi and the Philosopher's Stone he could deal with. Rich men who thought he was a girl, not so much. Which when he thought about it, was just about the most embarrassing comparison one could come up with.

Ame on the other hand had a good excuse to look uncomfortable. Due to the fact that she was playing the innocent younger sister it made sense that she would hide mostly behind her "older sister" while maids and butlers cooed over how adorable she was. More than once, Envy had to throw a glare her way, unnoticed of course.

When the man from before finally came downstairs, the maids who had set out the food were standing in the back, chirping behind their hands about "that adorable little girl and her big sister".

He sat at the head of the table, close to "Eri" but not too close, smiling at them. Envy smiled back, but Ame hid behind him, looking shy. A series of "Aww!"s and "So cute!"s errupted from the maids, and Envy resisted the urge to twitch.

Damn that girl. Why couldn't HE be the shy one damn her?!

*Oh yeah.* he thought. *I'm the one who opened my trap first. Right.*

Tucking some of his hair behind his ear in what he hoped was a relatively feminine way, Envy commenced what he decided to refer to as "Operation Sister". Basically, he started to act like the most innocent supposedly-16 year old girl he could. Which, oddly enough, was really kind of convincing.

"I'm afraid," the man said. "We have yet to exchange introductions. I am Rydel, the owner of this home."

*Home?* Ame thought. *Try mansion.*

"I'm Eri." Envy said with a smile. "And this is Ame, my younger sister.

Rydel smiled at Ame.

"Shy little thing, isn't she?"

"She is. She used to hide behind mom all the time."

As the two older males (one of which was supposed to be female) slid into a friendly conversation, Ame looked Rydel over.

He was a well built man, hair in the same style is had been previously. His skin retained the olive she had seen earlier, complimented by his dark colored suit, tailored to fit perfectly. His eyes were dark brown, inviting at first glance, but once she actually looked into them, she found them to be cold and dark. A shiver ran through her, barely disguised by a shifting in position behind her "sister".

*That's not a good sign.* she thought softly.

"Ame."

She looked up, catching Rydel's eye, then glancing quickly away. She thanked god she was supposed to be shy, it gave her a good excuse to avoid eye contact.

"Tell me a little bit about yourself."

Ame swallowed nervously.

"Uh….W-well, um, I'm 14." she started. "I like the color red, and violet, but black is my favorite. I really like drawing and reading, and I really like foxes. And my favorite person in the whole world is Eri."

At the last statement, she linked her arms around Envy's middle, nuzzling his shoulder like a little sister would.

"Awww!" "Eri" crooned. "You're my favorite person too Ame."

Ame giggled for effect.

Rydel was smiling, a small twinkle of warmth in his eyes, but it was quickly gone.

"Well I think you'll like our grounds Ame. There are a lot of foxes out this time of year, you know, to breed. The ones around here are particularly affectionate, they love attention."Ame smiled. She really did like foxes, having a demonic based affinity with them and all.

"What about you Eri? What's your favorite animal?"

"Cats."

The younger girl blinked. Envy liked cats?

"Any kind of cat?"

"Well…" Envy said, thinking about it. "I love jaguars and white tigers, but if I had to choose… Probably a house cat. Or one of those tame pumas really rich people have." he said.

Rydel smiled again.

"I'm afraid to say I have no tame puma, but nonetheless, I think you two will like it here."

*Yeah.* Ame thought. *Maybe.*

---

By the time Ame and Envy were back in their room, it was relatively late. The female (the real female) of the two was feeling dead tired. She left the door open for Envy, not really caring as she kicked off her shoes.

She was also too tired to care if Envy saw her changing at this point, pulling off her shirt. Her reward for the unannounced action was an indignant squeak, accompanied by the shuffling of someone turning away. Ame threw off her clothes and pulled on her pajamas, deciding to straighten up her clothes the next morning instead of right now.

By the time she turned around, Envy was also in his sleep clothes, which was actually just a pair of black sweatpants. He was staring at their bed like it had dropped from the ceiling and onto the floor from Mars, and Ame wondered why. It took her a second to realize it.

There was A bed.

One.

Single.

Bed.

Ame groaned, WAY too tired to care, and, walking around to the other side, got in. Envy kept staring, and Ame glared. She held up the covers.

"Get in. Be glad I'm too tired to argue about this now."

He didn't need telling twice, getting in his side and shutting off the bedside light.

"Night Ame."

Ame mumbled something akin to "G'nite Envy." before drifting off.


	4. Chapter Three

The First Signs of Trouble

Ame had kind of figured that after the whole "Envy-as-a-sister" thing happened, this mission couldn't get a whole hell of a lot more screwy(or derogatory for that matter). Naturally, of course, as, really, always, Ame was wrong. Which was probably about twenty times more annoying than the fact that she even had to think about a mission being screwy, because usually, they were pretty straightforward. Lucky her, she always seemed to get stuck with the really messed up ones. Ame was sure there was some kind of "hidden message" in that, but she couldn't care less right now.

She had awoken to the sun in her eyes and a very warm, oddly comforting pressure against her collarbone and a lighter pressure around her ribs. At first, she hadn't remembered where she was, and had kind of just figured that Edward and she had fallen asleep on the couch again. Sometimes the two of them would be up late researching and Ed would end up falling asleep against her shoulder or in her lap and she (by animal instinct) would basically just curl up with him there for the night. Most mornings she would awake with Edward snuggled close to her for warmth, or holding her protectively close.

Of course, about five minutes after this thought crossed her mind, Ame remembered something very, very important. She was on a mission, Edward was hundreds of miles away, and the only person who had been sleeping close to her that night was Envy. The very male, very enemy, very homunculus, Envy.

For a moment, she had considered the idea of pushing Envy off of her and possibly off of the bed and then yelling at him, then thought better of it. After all, they were playing sisters at the moment. One sister did not push the other out of bed in the morning, in fact, she should be pretending to snuggle right back. But, let's be honest, that was taking it a little far, even by her standards. Ame DID have limits to which she would go.

Looking down, she was met by sleep tousled black hair and the sight of Envy's head on her collar, his one arm thrown across her midriff, the other tucked by her side. To her utmost surprise, Ame found herself thinking just how peaceful, perhaps even innocent, Envy looked while sleeping. The evil smirk, the dark light in his eyes, the frown of anger, the general stress and danger that surrounded him was gone. Instead, it was replaced by just pure peace and ease, which was something that anyone in her life had at the best of times.

Again, Ame was sorely tempted to wake Envy, specifically for the purpose of getting rid of the endearing image that was slowly replacing the usual image of Envy in her brain. The usual one being a straight out psycho who had obviously not been hugged enough as a child. Or maybe hugged a little TOO much…if you get what she means. Anyway, a psycho with the intent to kill you. Yeah. That was Envy. Not the innocently sleeping figure. No. That was not Envy. That was…An apparition….or…something….

*God I am LOSING MY MIND. And it's only been a DAY.*

Ame let her head fall back against the pillow with what would have been a loud "THUNK" if it had been a solid surface but instead was more of a soft "fwump". She wasn't completely sure how she was supposed to survive the next…however long.

And then it really sank in for Ame. She was stuck in this house, this mansion, with a possibly deranged man as a guardian, and an even more possibly deranged male for a SISTER, for an indefinite period of time. ….If this mission didn't kill her, she was going to rip Roy's spleen out and make him eat it with ketchup.

TWICE.

Sighing to herself, Ame stared up at the ceiling, wishing that it weren't so damn immaculate so she could actually stare at something. Like that crack in the ceiling in her apartment back in Central. Stare it long enough, for enough days, you'll notice it looks a bit like it's spelling "Sweet". Or it's a cat.

See? Ceilings. Endless hours of fun for insomniacs.

Envy shifted slightly let out a small mew-like groan that signaled what Ame hoped was wakefulness. Instead, he just snuffled softly and stopped moving again. It was then that Ame took matters into her own hands as far as Envy's awaking was concerned. It may have only been thirty or so minutes laying there, but that was enough to royally piss Ame off. Remember, she HATED this guy, and he was asleep practically on top of her. And so, intent on waking the sin currently sleeping, Ame raised her hand, and smacked Envy squarely on the back of the head.(1)

There was a loud yelp from the boy sleeping with her followed by a bleary eyed glare.

"The hell?" Envy grumbled, not quite in his usual angered tone, more sleepy.

"You were sleeping too damn long."

"Whyzzat YOUR prob'em…."

If it had been anyone else, Ame would have mentally cooed over how cute the half asleep words were said, because in all honesty, his voice was extremely cute. Like a four year old being told to wake up for his first day of kindergarten. Only it was Envy. So Ame wasn't going to admit it sounded cute.

"Because you're practically on top of me."

"….Wha?"

"Envy. You're cuddling me."

"I am not."

Envy seemed to be waking up more now, which Ame took as a good sign because it meant he'd be able to process better. Starting with;

"Really? Cause ya know, you're sort of on my chest, with your freakin' ARM AROUND ME."

Envy blinked twice, lowering his eyes to his arm, then to where he was laying. It took him a minute, but his eyes widened.

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh. Now, GET OFF OF ME."

"But you're warm. And very comfortable."

Ame gaped at the Homunculi now preoccupying himself with nuzzling her collarbone and snuggling deeper into the blankets.

"….Are you serious…?"

"Very."

Remember the limits I mentioned that Ame had? Well, her limits were quickly being reached and she was growing severely impatient with the boy nuzzling her. If she had been on the mission with Edward, and HE'D been the one nuzzling her, she wouldn't have minded. Edward might as well have been her older brother, he was her best friend, it would have just been joking and when she told him to stop, he would have.

But now it was not Edward, and therefore Ame gave herself FULL permission to do whatever it took to get Envy off of her now that he was awake. Starting with another sharp smack to the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey, I'm AWAKE!"

"Off. NOW."

But Envy, defiant as always, didn't move.

Ame sighed in annoyance. Anger and violence would obviously not get through to him, so that left logic and reason. The likelihood that that would work either wasn't very good in her opinion, Envy seemed a little out of his mind to have either work.

Despite this, she decided to give it a try.

"Envy, you didn't put on a shirt to bed. If Reena or Lacy comes in to check on us, they're gonna find out that you're not exactly female and you'll blow our cover and fuck the mission entirely."

"Oh. Shit! I thought I put a shirt on!"

To Ame's utter shock, Envy shot up and jumped out of the bed, dashing over to his suitcase and throwing it open.

"Crap crap crap, DAMN being tired!" he snapped, more at himself than anything else.

When he found a shirt, he pulled quickly over his head and tugged it down over his stomach. Standing again, he looked down at himself;

"Okay," he said, turning to Ame, who had sat up in bed. "Do I look like a guy?"

Ame cocked her head to the side and glanced him over again.

"Just make sure you don't wear shirts that are too tight and I think you'll pass off as a girl just fine. And keep the higher pitch to your voice."

Envy sighed irritably.

"You know, when I find out which dumbass said we were sisters, I will personally gut him."

Ame snorted.

"I'm already planning on making Roy eat his own spleen."

"With ketchup?"

"You read my mind."

There was a knock at the door and Ame mentally sighed and cursed at the same time. The sigh was in relief, thanking god Envy had jumped up and put on a shirt when he did, the curse was because that was the closest they had come since the train ride to a civil conversation. Ame figured that as long as she was stuck in close proximity to him, she might as well have a truce with him.

"Come in." she called softly, keeping the demure demeanor from the previous day in place.

The door was opened and Reena looked in on them from around the door, chestnut hair falling over one shoulder and bright green eyes inquisitive.

"Up already you two?"

Envy smiled pleasantly (something Ame thought she would probably NEVER get used to).

"Yeah, we're early risers, aren't we?"

Ame nodded shyly, making sure not to make eye contact with the maid currently talking to them.

"Alright, well, breakfast will be ready in about a half hour, so get dressed and I'll come get you two, kay?"

Rydel was not present at the breakfast table, so it was a quiet affair, which was all fine and good by Ame. She really had no desire to speak to either of the males she was being forced to act with (well, Rydel didn't KNOW she was acting, but still). Rydel freaked her out, there was just something so very, VERY wrong about him that she couldn't put her finger on. And Envy, well, she KNEW there was something wrong with him. There always had been.

After eating, Rydel had reappeared, much to the two's chagrin, and treated them to a pleasant surprise.

"I'm afraid business matters have come up for me(2), so I will be unable to show you around today. I think you can find your way around though, and any number of the servants around the house will know where something is if you need to find anything."

"Of course, we understand." Envy chirped, voice just an octave or two higher than normal. "You'll be around tomorrow though right?"

Rydel smiled, and once more, it didn't reach his eyes at all. Ame tried to suppress the selfsame shiver from the night before, but it was harder now.

"Absolutely. I wouldn't bring you into my home just to neglect you!"

Envy beamed, and Ame forced a small, shy smile onto her face the only good thing about pretending to be very shy was that people didn't expect very much of you.

Rydel chuckled and ruffled Ame's hair (she tried not to grimace or flinch away. Only Roy ever ruffled her hair.).

"I'll be back later, enjoy your day."

As he disappeared down the hall, Ame turned to Envy and, in the cutest voice she could muster, said;

"Sissy…I forgot something in the room, can you come and get it with me?"

Envy glanced at her, and instantly took the hint. Grabbing her hand, he grinned again.

"Of course Ame, you don't have to ask!"

They pretended not to hear the eruption of coos and "AWW"s that were coming from the servants around them as Envy led Ame back to their room, hand in hand.

Once back in their room however, he dropped her hand and turned to her expectantly.

"We need to split up."

Envy quirked an eyebrow.

"Straight to the point I see. Why?"

"He's going to be gone all day." Ame said simply. "We don't know when that will happen again, we need to take this chance."

"I agree, but this is our second day here, won't it seem weird if we go our separate ways so soon?"

"Not if you have asthma."

Envy stared at her like she had just grown a second head.

"Ame….I'm the perfect incarnation of an alchemical human being. It's impossible for me to have asthma."

The younger girl rolled her eyes.

"Really Envy? The whole homunculi thing gave me NO clue." she said sarcastically. "FAKE it dumbass. You're good at faking things, aren't you? Pretend you've got asthma or something…"

Envy nodded, the bit his lip.

"No…wait. I'd need an inhaler to have asthma. How about a heart condition instead?"

It was Ame's turn to look like Envy had grown an extra head.

"Not a serious one, just something where I need to rest every now and again, can't over exert myself, stuff like that. That sound about right?"

"Yeah." she conceded. "That sounds good. Perfect actually."

Envy shrugged.

"It'll give us an excuse to split up or come back to the room every now and again. And besides, it's not like if they had a doctor check me out, it won't fit."

At this, Ame frowned, watching as Envy almost unconsciously clenched his hand over where his centre was.

"This thing doesn't exactly beat at the normal human rate…"

For a moment, the Homunculi's eyes had gone dead, and he seemed to just disappear from reality. His shoulders sagged and he seemed to accumulate a dark aura around him, as if someone had just put tinted glass in front of him. Ame had never seen him like that before. He'd always been so…well, insane, that she never noticed the shadows under his eyes, or the impending darkness following him around.

"Envy…?"

Envy seemed to suddenly snap out of it.

"Anyway, we should get going." he said quickly. "You take the grounds, I'll look around the mansion, kay?"

"I-"

But Envy had already grabbed her coat (the one she had worn the day before) thrown it to her, and grabbed her hand, steering her out of their room and effectively stopping all conversation. Unable to so much as complain about it, Ame just sighed mentally and followed her "big sister" loyally and without complaint.

And so, she found herself now outside in the gardens, walking around under the cloudy sky, thinking to herself. After a quick lie about the heart condition, Ame had taken her leave to the outside areas, and envy had disappeared into the recesses of the mansion to explore. She didn't mind the separation from the sin, it gave her a chance to really think for a minute, at the same time as getting some work done.

Ever since Ame had been left on her own with Envy, she had been noticing things about him that she had never seen before. Little quirks and occurrences that she had never paid any mind to until suddenly they were up in her face. In truth, Envy wasn't as out of his mind as Ame had thought he was. He was just a good actor.

And more importantly, he was a hell of a lot more HUMAN than she had originally thought. He wasn't some hellish demon in a humanoid form, he really was just a human who happened to have been created by alchemy. But that one little difference was obviously enough to affect him, if not others. The fact that he survived off of not a heart, but a centre seemed to weigh heavily upon him, both mind and body.

"But so what? I'm not exactly human…" she muttered to herself. "Kitsune are as inhuman as Homunculi…"

'Yeah.' quipped a voice in the back of her head. 'But KITSUNE have hearts, don't they? They're not mindless killing machines, ARE THEY?'

*Envy's not mindless. And he only kills when ordered…not for fun…*

'That you know of.'

*You know what, SHUT UP.*

'You like him.'

Ame froze, mid-step.

'Now that he's not your enemy, he's growing on you. You like Envy. He's just like you.'

*….I thought I said shut up.*

Purposely redirecting her thoughts onto something else (hell, ANYTHING else), Ame wondered how Edward was doing. He was probably okay, it wasn't like he couldn't survive without her, and the momentary truce thanks to this mission meant that there would be no randomly popping up Homunculi. Of course, that also meant he wasn't liable to get very far on the whole Philosopher's Stone front. But ah well, sacrifices had to be made for the sake of the greater good.

Ame only realized a second after she had thought it that she really hated that saying. A lot.

Meanwhile, Envy was making his way from hall to hall, room to room, as quickly as he could, wanting to cover as much ground as possible. …In all fairness, he was also cheating the hell out of the laws of reality. Technically, scurrying around as the cutest dormouse he could turn himself into didn't really count as fair, but he figured, hey, anyone comes across him, he just puppy-eyed them to death. (Er, dormouse-eyed…?) It had worked once already.

Scurrying into the next room, Envy paused, sniffing the air slightly. Unlike the rest of the rooms he had been in, this one smelled musty, old, like no one had entered for years. Curiosity getting the better of him, Envy returned to his humanoid form to take a look around the shadowy room. Even he, who was used to operating in perfect darkness, was having a hard time seeing in here. Contemplating turning into an owl or something else with night vision, Envy decided to do the simpler thing (for once).

He felt around for a light switch.

It took a good five minutes of patting along the wall, and several bumps into what felt like very oddly placed corners, before he came across the switch.

*Geez.* he mentally grumbled. *Lust would laugh her ass off if she saw me fumbling around for a frickin' LIGHT SWITCH.*

Flicking the switch, Envy waited a moment, before the lights finally blinked on and revealed where exactly he was standing. Had anyone else been around, Envy would have controlled himself, but considering he was alone, he allowed his jaw to just was in an enormous library, walls covered, floor to ceiling, in giant bookshelves crammed to the brimming point with countless volumes of all shapes and sizes. Some were thin as a sheet of paper, some were bigger than Envy's head, a few were in weird shapes, like triangles, or circles. A few seemed to have no text in them at all, and there were quite a few in other languages, or written with symbols that he'd never seen before. He recognized a few on alchemy, and a few on Amestris, and even one on Homunculi.

"….Whoa."

And there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of other ways to accurately describe the library.

Envy slowly trailed around the room, looking from book to book with interest. Envious he may be by nature, but he was often compared to a cat, and more than once Lust had said curiosity would kill him. He was NOT surprised to hear it though, he knew he had too much curiosity for his own good, but it had yet to kill him yet. (Almost kill him, sure, entirely kill him, no.)

Pulling a random book from a shelf he passed, Envy looked at the cover, finding it to read "The Man Who Became God, and other tales". Cocking his head to one side, Envy puzzled over the strange title. He had never heard of such a book before, and he made it a point to at least know enough folklore so he could blend in virtually anywhere. For a moment, he battled inwardly over whether he should continue spending time in this room, or if he should keep on searching the mansion.

Ultimately, Envy decided that searching three of the four floors, that he was aware of existing, in one day was a heck of a lot more than anyone else could have done, and an hour or so of just relaxing and actually reading wouldn't kill anyone. Besides, as far as Envy was concerned, this was a VACATION. No Father, no Pride, no Wrath, no murderous Lust coming after him when he interrupted her putting on her makeup, hell, not even a pissed off State Alchemist! …Well, Ame didn't count. She was only a State Alchemist for the benefits that came with it. She rarely even used her authority.

Actually, now that Envy thought of it, Ame had purposely waited a year so that she didn't take the title of youngest State Alchemist, hadn't she? Or…something like that. She had waited until age fourteen(3), and even then she had been reluctant to do so. At least, that was the story Envy had gotten from a drunken officer while pretending to be some pretty girl (or guy, he couldn't quite recall, but did it really matter?). If he didn't know better, Envy was pretty sure Ame just didn't give a crap about being a State anything and just did it to appease the oh-so-overprotective chibi.

…

Wait. She probably did.

Snapping out of his thoughts (and wondering why they had drifted off to Ame), Envy looked back down at the book in his hands.

"A man who became god huh? Well…Let's see what happened to him then."

And, flopping down onto a velvety couch in the middle of the room, Envy opened the book and fixed his eyes on the finely printed words, allowing the temptations of curiosity to get the better of him.

Back with Ame, the young girl was having a hard time really understanding why she should care about anything that was going on around her. There were various gardeners, butlers, the occasional maid, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary around the grounds. Every time someone would see her and ask if she was okay, or where her "sister" was, she'd dodge around the question in a shy voice, either providing the story they had made up or actually just muttering something and dashing off. Ame didn't really care what the others around her thought of her demeanor; as long as she had Rydel fooled, it didn't matter.

Trekking along yet another worn garden path, Ame muttered to herself about overly rich bastards with too much damn space and nothing to do with it. What was wrong with having a nice, tidy garden, not covered in sprawling forests and yard high grass? Would it KILL Rydel to actually just have a normal looking part of his grounds? So far she had gone through a field, a jungle, a desert landscape, a plain, and Ame was currently in a huge woodland area.

GOD she hated rich people SO much.

"I SWEAR, not only is this place fucking enormous it's like he had to cram the whole fucking world's landscapes in here." she grumbled to herself.

Maybe she should have faked being the one with the heart condition, at least then she wouldn't have to deal with the incessant COLD. (Not that Ame REALLY minded, it was more an annoyance than anything else.) Ah, hell, who was she kidding. Envy was probably already done with searching the whole mansion by now, while she just walked around the damn grounds. He'd probably found LOADS of important stuff…

"And you know, THIS is why I HATE him…"

'Because you're impressed by his abilities?'

"Screw that." she muttered. "Envy does NOT impress me!"

'Yeeeeeeeeah….'

"Fuck you."

'I'm sure talking to yourself will earn you pointers with Rydel!'

"…." Ame nearly smacked herself. What was she doing talking out loud! If someone heard her…

Sighing, Ame stopped walking for a minute, turning her head upward to stare at the skies, which were turning a soft ashy color as the day progressed. The foliage above her was sparse enough for her to see the light and tint of the sky above. For a moment, she allowed her mind to wander off to the world she had left behind her.

She thought affectionately of Edward and Alphonse, always making sure she was tailing after them, on their heels at all times. Ling and Lan Fan too, she missed them, her fellow Xing residents, especially Lan Fan. Never a dull moment when she was with the shinobi, they were always doing something fun (fun being training, running from rooftop to rooftop after Ling and Ed, those kinds of things). Riza was on her mind too, and Black Hayate, her favorite pet owner pair. Roy however, was not on her happy list right now.

In fact, Roy was still very much on her, I'm-Going-To-Eat-You-Alive list. And he wasn't leaving any time soon. No damn way.

Ame blinked out of her murderous thoughts of Roy when there was a soft crooning from her left. Turning her head to that direction, she found a pair of deep almond eyes staring back at her. For a minute, she just stared before actually registering what she was staring AT. What she was staring at, turned out to be a small fox kit, fur a soft fall-leaf orange accented with smoky black and cloudy white at the end of his tail.

Ame's affinity for foxes instantly got to her and she dropped to her knees, purring instinctually in the back of her throat. The small kit crooned again and stepped out from the underbrush, sniffing at the air around her. Reaching out a hand, Ame murmured a few words in her native tongue (the kitsune language, not that of Xing), coaxing the kit closer. The small male padded closer still and, after a soft sniff at her fingers, rubbed his muzzle against her hand affectionately.

Ame let a small smile quirk her lips at the sign of affection.

She may not have been a fox herself, but her breed of yokai (the kitsune), were closely linked to foxes, being fox yokai themselves. She hadn't seen a wild fox in god knew how long and regardless of the fact that they were animals, she felt a bit like she were seeing an old family member or a distant cousin. It felt nice, homey, even.

*…Wow. I am obviously a little screwy in the head.*

'Gee ya think?'

*Shut it you.*

As Ame sat there on her knees, another fox kit stepped out of the bushes, then another, and soon she was surrounded by five other little kits, all of them sniffing curiously at her clothes and nuzzling at her hands. She didn't try to hide her smile now, continuing to speak in the native kitsune language to the little foxes, affection seeping into her tone. The male kit crawled into her lap and batted at her scarf playfully, making her giggle softly.

When Ame looked up again, she saw a fully grown fox, presumably the kit's mother, sitting just outside her reach. She was watching her cautiously, tail flicking back and forth nervously. Obviously, she had never allowed her kits to interact with a human being, or anyone else for that matter. Ame caught the she-fox's eye and held out a hand, palm up.

"_Don't be scared._" she cooed in the kitsune-tongue. _"I won't hurt you, or your kits."_

Still cautious, the mother put one paw forward, then another before padding softly up to Ame. Unlike her babies, she didn't nuzzle the girl's hand, instead, laid down, back against her knees, huffing softly and tucking her tail under her chin. It was the sign that she trusted Ame enough to allow her interaction with her children, as long as she was present.

For a good half hour, Ame just sat there, playing with the six little foxes and their mother, who eventually joined in their play fights and teasing. All at once however, the foxes all froze, noses up in the air, bodies rigid, turned towards something Ame was unable to see. She blinked in surprise when the little kit who had first come up to her (whom she had named Aynae) turned round and grabbed the edge of her coat in his jaws. He tugged on it forcefully, tail wagging expectantly behind him, big brown eyes staring at her.

The other five kits and their mother were already walking off, though they paused, looking behind them at the young girl still with the youngest kit.

"You….want me to follow….?"

Aynae tugged more fervently on her coat, whining in the back of his throat. Ame rose to her feet, brushing off her bum and looking to where the foxes were slowly disappearing into the underbrush.

"Alright…lead the way Aynae."

The little fox barked and trotted off after its family, leading Ame to whatever destination they had in mind. Ame noted, in slight surprise, that there was a worn path, hidden by age, where the foxes were now standing. Once she was in sight, they started walking again, but Aynae stayed by her side, padding alongside her loyally. Ignoring her first instinct, which was to find Envy, then follow after the fox family to god knew where, Ame started through the dense underbrush as quietly as she could. There was a sharp tugging in the back of her mind, reminding her begrudgingly that she should REALLY go find Envy as opposed to doing this on her own, but she continued to ignore it. She was a big girl, she could handle herself, she had for years now. She didn't need the big bad Homunculi looking after her at all.

'Don't need it, but you'd LIKE it.'

*Do you EVER go away?*

'No, not generally.'

Ame would have groaned aloud if the foxes hadn't disappeared from her view, leaving her standing alone in the middle of a forgotten forest path, totally unsure where she really was. For a second, she just stood there quietly, looking around and wondering what she should do. She contemplated turning around and going back the way she came, then thought better of it. There had been something the foxes wanted her to see, and she would figure out what.

Suddenly, Aynae's head popped up, his ears standing straight, in the middle of a thick patch of grass. He barked once and turned towards the west, then back to her. Ame blinked twice, then realized that the foxes had not left her, she had just not been paying attention. What worried her was the now lack of path in the direction they were going, but… She sucked in a breath. Well, she might as well. Not like she hadn't done more dangerous things before.

Picking her way carefully into the tall bushes, Ame pulled up the hood of her coat to hide her vibrant hair, eyes flashing a light orange momentarily. The suspense and excitement were getting to her by now and she really wanted to know what she was being shown. Something told her that it had nothing to do with the fox's den.

A mere fifteen minutes later and Ame had her answer.

She was crouched down on one knee behind a large sycamore tree, ready to jump up and dash away at any given second, dark coat and pants allowing her to blend in perfectly with her surroundings. Aynae sat beside her, his puffy tail whipping against her ankle, plainly showing her was nervous. The other kits had dispersed out through the bushes, but their mother sat just a few yards in front of Ame, creeping forward. Ame took the hint and slipped forward a bit, before the mother's tail went straight up, a signal to halted instantly, waiting to see what happened next. For a moment, all was silent, then, Ame strained her ears, listening as something came closer. It took her just seconds to recognize the sound of a car engine, then realize that there were multiple engines. The young kit beside her fidgeted, and Ame's hand darted to gently pet his head. Aynae stopped moving again, understanding her soft admonishment without the words being spoken.

As the cars came into view, Ame observed with surprise that they were large trucks made to look like delivery carriers. But Ame was an alchemist by trade, she knew when something was more than it looked on first appearance. The cartons were armored, solid iron and steel, at least three inches thick each. She whistled mentally. Someone really didn't want whatever was in there to be stolen.

But a moment later, and Ame's side changed entirely as one of the cartons shook and a loud roar erupted from inside it. She stared as soon more of the cartons joined in.

*They don't want to keep others out, they want to keep something else IN…* she thought to herself.

Ame smirked.

*Well well well, looks like Rydel isn't the saint that he appears on the outside after all huh?*

She patted Aynae's head again and murmured softly in the kitsune language;

"_Tell your mother thank you, and that I may need to see this again, alright?"_

Aynae yipped once and nuzzled her hand, before Ame was off, darting through the trees and back towards the mansion, smirk dancing on her lips.

Maybe this mission wouldn't be such a waste of time after all.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** 1- Think Gibbs from NCIS.

2- Read: Author was too damn lazy to write my fricking character.

3- Just to clarify: Edward got his state license at 12, I believe (or 11, I can't remember) and is the youngest state alchemist in history. Ame got hers in between the ages of 13 and 14. (HAH! I actually managed to work that one out.)

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

SEE CATHY? I HAVE NOT FAILED YOU YET! *shot*

Yeah...slowest. Update. EVER.

IM SO SORRY.

I totally forgot the plot, so I had to make up a new one and then the chapter was being a bitch and my aunt was here and- *more excuses here*

THE POINT IS THE NEW CHAPTER IS HERE.

And chapter four is in progress. *sighs* Okay, I'll stop stalling and go back to writing now.


	5. Chapter Four

Out the Fourth Floor Window

By the time Ame got back to the mansion, Rydel was back leaving her to slip back into her shy façade and hope he didn't ask too many questions. Nothing went wrong until he got around to asking where Eri was (Ame almost tripped over this one until she remembered; Eri = Envy), and Ame was at a loss as to how to answer. She got as far as explaining that her "sister" had a heart condition before she realized that she really had no idea where in hell her current partner in crime was.

Luckily, Envy seemed to have some sort of ESP, or just really good timing, because he reappeared out of nowhere and said he had been exploring the mansion a bit. When Rydel asked exactly where he had been, Envy responded the library, to which Rydel laughed.

"Ah yes, the library, on the third floor? My goodness, I haven't been up there in lord only knows how long. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Well, there was this one book…I brought it back to our room, I hope you're not mad…"

Here Envy put on an innocently worried face, that kind a small child does when they think they're in trouble. Ame barely stopped herself from muttering something along the lines of "Have you no shame?" but only by a hair.

"Oh no, it's no problem, just put it back when you're done."

"Of course!"

After that, they had dined on roast beef and a hearty salad with vegetables from the garden Ame had passed on her walk through the grounds. She learned, much to her amusement, that Envy had a great dislike for radishes, as he hid them behind the bones of his meat sneakily. She locked this away in her memory as teasing material for later, but only because she knew that her character wouldn't tease her sister about such a thing. Rhubarb pie came for desert, something Ame was tentative about eating as she had never had it before. Envy tucked in without hesitation though, and after a few moments. Ame took her own first bite of the sweet. To her surprise, it was quite good, and while she didn't finish off the two pieces Rydel and Envy both had, she had no remorse for the one piece now in her stomach.

After a short conversation filled with more random lies about themselves, Envy excused the both of them off to bed, which Ame couldn't stop mentally thanking him for. Lacy led them back to their room and after childishly sweet goodnights, they disappeared into their room.

By then it was at least eleven at night, and it had been a rather long day for the both of them in their own ways.

Envy collapsed first, black sweat pants and a black shirt on this time, curling up on his side of the bed, back facing Ame this time. (Ame guessed this was a precaution against snuggling her again and she hoped it worked.) Ame took her time getting ready for bed, undressing and pulling on the black silk pajamas Winry had gifted to her out of the blue last time she had seen her, before crawling into bed. She turned her back to Envy and turned off the light, not bothering with a good night, as he was already asleep.

The next morning found Ame and Envy waking up at around the same moment, only to find themselves in an equally annoying (embarrassing) position as the previous morning. Envy had his arms securely around his young companion, while Ame had her head against his chest, both curled up against one another. For a second, neither of them moved, then Ame promptly pushed away from Envy and got up to get ready for the snuggling was not mentioned by either for the entire duration of getting dressed and out of their room, and they came to a silent agreement to just forget about it every morning it happened.

Today's attire for Ame was a pair of khaki Capri pants and a soft blue sweater that seemed dangerously close to falling off of one shoulder. She laced up her fancy leather shoes, black socks up to her ankles, supremely glad she had bought them all the time ago. If Edward hadn't been called in for that ball thing for the military(1) and he hadn't forced her to go (as she was a State Alchemist too), she wouldn't have them now. And appearances at this point were everything.

Envy on the other hand seemed to be having a mental dilemma.

"What's up?" Ame asked him.

"Huh? Oh uh, just thinking."

Ame turned to him, crossing her arms.

"Do tell."

"Well…It's just, I've been wearing pants."

"And?"

It took Ame a moment to realize his problem. As she knew him as "Envy" and as a male, Ame couldn't see the problem with him constantly wearing pants. Of course, at the moment, Envy was "Eri", and Eri was a girl, and a girl of the more feminine kind than Ame. While Ame was perfectly content never even touching a skirt (unless character so demanded, like now), Eri was a lot more girly than her. As of such, the event that she was constantly wearing pants was a bit odd. Of course, Envy hadn't intended on being Eri when he came on this mission, he had intended on being Envy, and Envy was perfectly male, and therefore there was nothing remotely strange about him never wearing skirts. (He couldn't very well wear his homunculi outfit around.)

"Oh." Ame rubbed a hand through her hair. "Can't you just…I dunno, summon the skirt you usually wear?"

"I would but; A) It's just a TAD revealing, which is so not an issue on a regular basis, but I don't think Eri would wear something like that. B) I can't JUST appear in that, I'd have to use the entire outfit, shirt, arm and leg bands included. And C) It's a SKORT!"

"….A what?"

"A skort. A skirt with a pair of shorts attached underneath."

"…They have a name for that."

"Yes."

"Skort."

"Yes a skort."

"…That makes it no more manly, just so you know."

"Shut up! I can't control what I was created in damnit!"

Ame held in a snicker that threatened to leave her throat, before turning to her suitcase. She moved things around for a moment before pulling something out and unfolding it.

"Luckily for you, Ms. Eri, Winry forced one of her old skirts on me last time I was in Resimbool. It's a bit too big for me, so I'm sure you'll be able to fit into it."

Envy took the offered skirt and held it up. It was just a plain black skirt, but the material was flowy and cut at just such a way that it would cling to one's hips. Ame turned around calmly, waiting for him to change, arms still crossed. There was a smirk on her lips and she wondered blandly just how wrong of her it would be to somehow get pictures of this and sell them as blackmail. Oh it was SUCH a tempting thought.

"…I feel so disturbed in this."

"Envy, you wear a goddamn SKORT every day. How can you feel wrong about wearing a skirt?"

"It's quite a bit different thank you very much."

Ame turned her head a bit, peeking over her shoulder, and, deeming Envy dressed enough for her to see without feeling like a pervert, she turned around fully to face him. For a minute, she just kind of stared. If appearances were anything to tell by, then Envy was right, and skirts were one hell of a lot different than skorts. Seeing Envy in the skin tight, knee-length shorts and slit up the side skirt attachment, that Ame was used to. However, Envy in a hip-hugging, flowing skirt that just brushed his knees? …Not really. Especially because said skirt really belonged to her.

"…Well…You definitely look like a girl."

He twirled around once, hair and skirt whipping out around him in a circle.

"I can tell." he said, back to her and looking over his shoulder. "Does this skirt-"

"If you say "make my butt look big" I swear to god I will smack the living daylights out of you."

"I was gonna say; Show off my legs too much?"

Ame flushed, looking downward at her companions legs (which she REALLY hadn't been paying attention to before). She had to admit, now that she really looked at them, Envy's legs were very feminine, and in such an outfit as he wore now, he was easily mistaken for a flat chested girl. The long sleeved cream colored shirt went well with the skirt, and was loose enough to leave the question of breasts out. In truth, the skirt showed just enough legs to be acceptable, but not enough to seem suggestive.

"No…no you look g-fine."

Envy smiled, then the smile turned into a smirk.

"Why foxy, were you about to say I look GOOD?"

Ame scoffed, turning away to hide her light flush.

"Of course not. Unless of course, you ENJOY being a cross dresser Envy."

"Hey!"

Ame just smirked and walked to the door.

"Ready to go SIS?" she asked snidely, smirk still in place.

Envy looked ready to snap at her, but closed his mouth again, smoothed out the skirt he was wearing and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, before walking past her out into the hall. Ame followed without another word, making sure no one else was in the hall, then falling into step a good two to three feet away from Envy. The male sighed.

"You know, you could at least ACT like you like me as long as we're stuck together. I know we've had some bad encounters, but-"

"But? Envy, you're a homunculi, you've tried to kill Edward, you've nearly succeeded plenty of times. And besides, you hate me, I hate you, we're only in this to help our sides of the war." she sent him a glare. "Quit acting like you like me, it'll save us both a lot of trouble."

Envy as quiet for a moment, then, just as they came to the corner where they would turn into the main hall, he muttered, almost too low to hear;

"I do like you."

Even if Ame had had the chance to answer, she wasn't sure what she would have said.

Breakfast with Rydel wasn't so much a disturbing affair as it was uncomfortable. Sitting beside Envy, Ame was forced to act as though she was the perfect little sister, while at the same time observing everything. Rydel seemed kind and at ease on the outside but she could just tell that he was hiding something, and, after yesterday, she wasn't surprised. Whatever had been in those crates was bad news.

The pancakes and fresh strawberry preserves were gone in less than half an hour, plates whisked away by maids, and table cleared at a record time. After breakfast, Rydel decided to give them a short tour around the rest of the gardens, which Ame had all but ignored. (Really, what was so threatening about a bunch of rosebushes?) As it turned out, there were three.

One was filled with exotic looking flowers (the roses Ame had seen the day before were all odd colors like blue and violet), and strange looking trees. Envy's apparent fascination with all of these was so genuine, Ame wasn't totally sure if he was faking it or not. The second was actually a huge hedge maze, which she, in turn, was absolutely taken with. She wasn't sure why, but Ame had a thing for mazes, they were quite a lot of fun, even in the worst of times. The third garden however, completely threw Ame off.

It was a children's playground, complete with swings and jungle gym, monkey bars and an array of (probably) foreign toys. Envy seemed ready to question this one, but Ame stopped him with a hug around the waist (she feigned cold as an excuse). When he gave her a weird look, she simply shook her head, allowing it to look like she was nuzzling her "sister's" side. Ame had seen the cold glaze in Rydel's eyes, and she was not about to push it even the slightest bit with this man.

After a morning full of random questions about plants and faked laughs and smiles (Ame thanked god she was shy one and had no need to fake more than the occasional small smile), Rydel informed them that he once more had work to do. The youngest of the group didn't even need to think twice to realize what he was really going to do. Those crates were full of something, and whatever it was, it was bad.

Ame realized, with satisfaction, that this gave her an opportunity to spill what she had learned to Envy. It was about damn time too, she needed to make sure they worked together so they could get this mission over with quickly. The sooner she left Envy's side, the sooner she could get rid of the weird nagging in her head claiming that, really, Envy wasn't so bad, and maybe she had been lying when she said she didn't like him.

But that was absurd. Envy was…ENVY! Homunculi, palm tree haired, hermaphroditic, juvenile, out of his fucking mind, Envy. Complete with insanity and lack of proper clothing. …And at the moment, Ame couldn't find a single thing wrong with that.

*GAH!* Ame mentally shook her head. *Fucking HELL I need to get out of here.*

Once Rydel had departed, Ame dragged Envy off to their room without a word, closing and locking the door behind them, then standing against it. She listened for the sounds of the maid who had been standing in the hall leaving, and once she was gone, she started talking. Ame related everything from the previous day that could be remotely helpful to Envy, who was sitting on the bed, hands absentmindedly fiddling with the skirt he was wearing. His companion on the other hand, was having a hard time keeping her eyes on Envy's face and not on his hands, or legs for that matter, finally she settled on closing her eyes altogether, letting a frown of thought slip onto her face. Edward did it all the time.

"So…these crates, they screamed?"

"Roared is more like it. Sounded like it might have been a chimera." she said with a small shrug.

"Hm…" Envy knitted his brows, running his thumb across his bottom lip in thought. "I don't think the military would send you, nor would Father send me, to come take care of a Chimera enthusiast. Something else is going on here, and so far the first clue it that Chimera are involved." Envy grimaced. "I HATE Chimera…"

"So," Ame asked, reopening her eyes. "What about you? Find anything of use?"

"Nope. First three floors are totally clean of anything remotely incriminating. There's a huge ass library though."

Ame sighed.

"Wonderful. So, after three days we've got CHIMERA." she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "We're gonna be here a while."

The last part was muttered more to herself than anything else.

"Well…I didn't get around to looking at the top floor." Envy finally conceded. "We could start there."

Without another word, Ame turned and opened the door, slipping out into the hallway and starting towards one of the many staircases around. Envy followed behind her with a bemused smirk on his lips.

This may be torturous for Ame, but he was quite enjoying this whole thing. More than it just being a vacation, he was learning more about one of his favorite State Alchemists. The Red Midnight, more commonly called Midnight, Alchemist, Ame Kurotsuki. Envy's curious nature had been his bane many a time, but he really couldn't help it! Every time he thought he knew every little kink and whirr of Ame's mind, it start to tick somewhere else. She was interesting, and Envy loved interesting things.

The climb to the top floor was irritatingly long, but Envy didn't really mind all that much. The long it took them to reach the next floor, the longer he could watch Ame. He was currently satiating his endless curiosity by observing how the young kitsune moved. The way Ame moved as she walked and climbed the stairs was different from how she moved while she was fighting.

In fights, she was fluid, graceful and always on point. While her day to day movements seemed not to lack an ounce of the grace her movements in battle did, they were much more cautious and calculated, as if just preparing to be attacked at any given moment. The only other persons he knew who moved like that were Edward Elric, and perhaps Scar, and Roy Mustang, all men with long histories of being in the battlefield. Which made him question, how long had Ame been fighting? Had her life as a soldier started when she met Edward Elric? Or had it started far earlier, when she was a much younger girl? What in Ame's life had gone wrong that her body automatically went to fighting?

"Envy, quit staring at me, it's getting annoying."

Envy blinked himself out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"You're staring Homunculus. Stop it."

"Why should I?"

Ame whipped around and narrowed her eyes to mere slits.

"Because I have killed for less."

Envy quirked an eyebrow."Why Ame, did you just admit unto me that you have killed before? That's information you don't want a horrible ol' Homunculi to have."

"You act as if Edward doesn't know."

At this, Envy was truly surprised.

"Who do you think makes sure none of the psychos follow us? And why do think they're never seen again?"

She turned around and started down the third floor hallway again.

"Why do you think Edward can exist without unnecessary blood on his hands?"

The rest of the way to the fourth floor was made in silence.

The fourth floor itself was well lit and well groomed as the rest of the home, and to most it would seem there was nothing off about it, but Ame and Envy were not most people. Right off, Envy noticed the dank smell of age that didn't appear in the rest of the mansion, quickly followed by the lack of open doors. While the rest of the house wasn't exactly completely open, there was at least one open door on each floor, inviting you into a room, or an already occupied room being cleaned, or something along those lines.

But on the fourth floor all was closed and Envy was pretty sure mostly locked too.

"Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Envy asked quietly.

"Exactly."

Neither dared raise their voices above a whisper, even though they weren't sure why. It was just one of those places that demanded silence and respect.

"There's nothing here." Ame murmured. "No life, no feeling, no emotion…Nothing. It's empty." she looked around before taking her first step away from the stairs and into the hallway. "It has been for years."

Envy had decided, after the whole conversation on the stairs, that he wouldn't question Ame's thought process unless it REALLY didn't make sense to him. She was, after all, a yokai, and yokai did not think nor feel the same as humans or homunculi. Whether their senses were heightened or not, well, he had to see it to believe it, but from what he was gathering, there was SOMETHING different about them. He knew that this place hadn't been touched for years, but the lack of emotion or life? Yeah, he wasn't getting that one. He'd have to take Ame's word for it. (Which he was doing more and more recently…)

Ame made her way down the hall, walking close to the doors on the left side, running her hands along the brass handles. Her eyes were distant, but once more, Envy didn't question, he just followed after her, trusting her instincts to lead them where they needed to go. Besides, it wasn't like he had kitsune-style spidey senses to tell him….whatever Ame's kitsune-style spidey senses were telling her.

The hallway seemed to go on forever, when finally, Ame stopped, turning her head to the door opposite the one she was touching. She stared at it for a long moment, before saying;

"Envy, can you pick locks?"

"That's a weird question."

"Can you or can't you?"

Envy raised his hand, allowing the fingers to elongate into sharp points.

"I'm an expert."

"Good, pick the door on the right, I'll take this one."

The male smirked, unable to really resist the urge to poke fun at Ame, just a bit.

"What's this? Ame-chan has a delinquent talent like that?"

"Envy, I just confessed to you that I've killed people before and you question me being able to PICK LOCKS?"

"Oh but Foxy, you're so innocent, are you sure you've killed before…?"

Ame growled, whipping around to glare at him.

"One, so not the time for this conversation Envy, and two, yes, I have killed before. I can't think of a single person I know who hasn't." she paused. "Except maybe Alphonse."

Envy scoffed.

"And what about Edward dearest?"

"He's got blood on his hands. I just take some of it for myself so he doesn't suffer quite as much. Now PICK THE DAMN LOCK WOMAN."

Envy dropped to his knees to start on the lock, before pausing and spinning around again.

"Did you just call me WOMAN?"

"You ARE wearing a skirt."

"YOUR skirt!"

"It's still a skirt."

Envy was pouting by this time, full out cheeks puffed, bottom lip jutting pouting like a little kid.

"Ne~ Ame-fox is so MEEEEEAN…."

Ame just rolled her eyes, turning back to her own door and working away at the lock. Envy took that initiative to go back to his own lock, carrying his injured pride with him. How did he and Ame always get into these situations where one of them limped away with their ego stabbed brutally like Barry the Chopper had been let at it? They were like cats and dogs, always at each other's throats! …Verbally, anyway.

The locks, as it turned out, weren't really in place to keep people out, more just as a point to keeping the doors closed. Envy's lock gave way first, allowing him into a bedroom fit for the richest queen in the world. For a minute, he stared, then he got some sense back and started looking around.

There was a huge canopy bed with rose red sheets and sky blue curtains, intricately carved with designs of fairies, leaves and flowers. The sheets were silk and the comforter was the softest down, the pillows fluffy goose feather. Everything was the finest of the fine, perfect and immaculate as if someone still lived there, but it was obvious they didn't. Despite the neatness of everything, it was all covered in a layer of dust thick enough to draw in. The books on the bookshelf, all fairytales and storybooks, were all caked in fuzzy dust, the little clay figurines of a dancing couple covered so badly he couldn't tell what color they had been. The mirror was so dirty he couldn't see his own reflection in it, and everything smelled of age.

Envy didn't dare move anything for fear of leaving some evidence of himself being there for someone to pick up, While it was obvious nothing had been touched in here for years, everything was left as if someone was still there, as if there was a figure sleeping in the bed beside him, about to wake up. Envy wanted to open the window, but he was afraid of touching the curtains, fearing once more about leaving evidence.

It had obviously been a woman's room, there was a vanity and it had a brush and a still open powder bottle on it. The powder was long since gone, but the container was still there, and it kind of made Envy wonder why it had never been closed. He was tempted to open the closet doors, until he took a good look at the handle, which was once more, covered in dust.

Limited as the information this room was giving him was, it meant something, and he filed away every bit of information he could gather. Whatever was going on here, the plot just got thicker. Now they had an abandoned room, chimeras, and…

"Envy! You better come see this…"

Envy was out of the room he had broken into and across the hall in seconds, deciding to ignore that snickering voice that pointed out that he hadn't even thought about rushing to Ame's side.

"What's u-"

Envy froze.

The room Ame now stood in was nothing like the room he had been in, and yet somehow more disturbing.

"Envy…Rydel said he never had children…didn't he?"

"Yeah…yeah he did."

So why, why on EARTH were they currently standing in a nursery room?

The walls were painted with childish designs of flowers and rainbows, everything you'd expect to be in a baby's room. There was a dresser with a cloth over top for changing on, a diaper bag resting against one wall, a crib by the window, toys over flowing from a chestnut toy box.

It was a beautiful room, even by the most expensive standards. Simply, but elegant, a room most children only dream of having grown up in. Truly, Envy doubted that he had ever seen a children's room as pretty.

"If he's never had kids, then why the hell is there a baby's room?" he spoke out finally.

"That's the question, isn't it?"

Ame was walking around the room, running her fingers along the walls, a sad look on her face.

"No one's ever lived in here. Baby or otherwise."

"That kinda makes it more depressing."

Ame didn't argue in the least bit.

Finally, she paused, staring out the window. Slowly, Ame turned fully to the window, brow furrowed, staring out across the fields.

"Hey, Envy?"

"Mm?" Envy looked up from the bookshelf full of clay figures and children's books.

"What's that?"

Envy joined his companion by the window, staring out at where she was pointing. For a second, he saw nothing, then as his eyes adjusted to the greenery, allowing it to just fade into the background, he saw it. A huge tower, reaching up past the treetops.

"Did you see that yesterday Ame?"

Ame shook her head.

"No, I didn't go that far out."

Envy stared a moment longer, before continuing.

"Little odd, isn't it? A random tower in the middle of a forest?"

"With no other buildings around it…"

"All alone out there?"Ame and Envy exchanged a look.

"I say we check it out." he said with a smirk. "Tomorrow."

Ame smirked.

"I say that sounds good."

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** 1- Nope, not a real event. But there's a lot of open space in the timeline of FMA, so I threw a random military gathering in there.

WOOOOHOOOO! Lookit that. More PLOTNESS. Now that I've got that done, it's actually sort of fun to write...

ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER. *heroic pose*

Ame: On a totally seperate note, which would you all like to see more; More embarrassing forced situations that should be "sisterly" but aren't because Envy's a guy, or some more serious romantic situations.

We leave it up to you our readers!

REVIEW IF YOU ADD TO ALERT OR FAVS PLEEEEEASE


	6. Chapter Five

Stardust, Blackjack and the Sunrise

The next day however, did not go as planned. They were awoken at approximately four in the morning by Reena, who ushered them out of their ("Absolutely ADORABLE!") embarrassingly cuddled position (again) and off to get dressed. They showered this time, one at a time, in the smaller, adjoining bathroom to their room. Ame mentally thanked whatever god allowed them to shower separately, because she was almost sure she would totally lose her mind if she had to shower with Envy.

Not that it wasn't an appealing tho-

*…..THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME.*

Ame bashed her head against the shower wall and mentally blamed the early hour of the morning for the suggestive thought pertaining to Envy. In fact, she thought, today, anything that she thought or felt that was weird, she was going to blame on waking up this damn early. THERE. Problem solved.

Sort of.

Sighing to herself, Ame exited the shower and grabbed the clothes she had picked for the day, deciding not to question Reena's forcing her to wear long pants. She tugged on the black jeans, then black turtleneck she had grabbed in her half awake state. Tugging a brush through her hair, then pulling her shoes and socks on, Ame quickly exited the bathroom, shutting off the lights as she did.

Envy had showered before her, so he was already dressed in a loose fitting sweatshirt that showed off the beginnings of his collarbone, and a pair of moderately baggy jeans. He, apparently, had no more idea what the heck was going on than Ame did, because he was sitting on the bed, kicking his legs absentmindedly and staring at the ceiling.

"Are the both of you ready? Alright, go ahead and go downstairs, Richard will be waiting for you in the lobby."

Deciding not to question who "Richard" was, Envy rose from his place on the bed, took Ame's hand, and led her from the room. Maybe it was because he too was half asleep, but Envy didn't let go of Ame's hand the whole way down to the lobby. And once more blaming it on the early timing, Ame didn't draw her hand away, and she didn't really mind the spindly fingers twined with her own.

Damn waking up too fucking EARLY!

The lobby was dimly lit, probably because everyone but Richard, Reena and themselves were still asleep, and sort of cold, but Ame didn't say anything about it. Richard as it turned out, was the butler who they had seen the first day. An elderly man with graying hair and a bushy mustache, covering his mouth, and a pair of half-moon glasses perched on his crooked nose. He was a grandfatherly man, and Ame decided right off that she liked him.

He was holding a pair of coats in one hand, and a pair of canteens in the other. Ame and Envy exchanged a look, at which time, Envy seemed to notice his hand still entwined with hers', quickly letting it go.

"It is rather chilly outside, please, put these on." Richard said in a deep baritone of age. His voice was thick like molasses, and warm like a fire on a really cold day.

Envy took the coats, handing one to Ame, and pulling his own on. They were simple wool overcoats, black and warm, and Ame pulled hers on without complaint. Next they were handed the canteens, which they slung over their shoulders, before Richard led them outside.

As they exited the house, Envy once more slipped his hand into his "sister's", and she blamed it once more on them being half asleep. Especially when she didn't even remotely flinch away from him.

They were led down yet another garden path, and the girl was sure she heard Envy mutter something about "rich bastards with too much freaking time on their hands" as they passed yet another tropical garden. She couldn't really say she disagreed at this point. They made their way around the back of the mansion, where they were sudden accosted with the smell of animals and a barn. For a second, they were totally confused, until the structure they were no doubt heading to came into view.

They were being taken to a large, and very lavish, set of stables. They were pretty, the kind of stables you see in books about royalty, and the young girl couldn't help admiring them. Envy too, seemed a bit surprised, but not entirely disappointed by the new location, more just observing than anything else.

"I do hope neither of you have an aversion to horses."

And then it clicked in her slightly sleep-addled brain. Horseback riding. They were going horseback riding. Where, and why this early, she had no clue, but she knew they would be riding horses. That was something she hadn't done since her time in her home land and…wow. That was a LONG time ago now that she thought about it.

Envy however, seemed a little more apprehensive.

"What's wrong?" she whispered to him.

"Ah…nothing, nothing. I've never ridden a horse before, that's all." he sent her a bemused smile. "It's sort of ironic. I've BEEN a horse, but I've never ridden one."

Ame squeezed his hand encouragingly (SLEEP DEPRIVIATION I SAY).

"Don't worry, it's not so hard. Considering you've been a horse yourself, it should be easier to know how and how not to ride, right?"

"I guess so."

Inside the stables was pretty as the outside, and it smelled a whole hell of a lot better than most stables you come into contact with. They were obviously well managed and well taken care of, the horses all groomed and every stall practically spotless. Ame could safely say it was the BEST set of stables she had ever seen, not that she had seen a whole hell of a lot of them, but the ones in her home country had been pretty damn fine. She supposed rich people sort of just had enough money to make them PERFECT.

"Please, pick out a horse you'd like to ride."

Ame and Envy exchanged a momentary look, before disentangling their fingers once more and starting to trail down the line of horses. Ame stopped in front of a silver mare with ice blue eyes and a long white mane and tail. She was beautiful and serene, her gaze steady, and her posture straight.

"That's Stardust." a stable boy told her with a grin. "She's pretty wild, I forewarn. I would pick ano-"

But Stardust was already nuzzling into Ame's hand with a soft snort, eyes closed and highly content. Ame inwardly grinned, allowing a small smile to flit across her face and she rubbed the mare's nose.

"Well I'll be." the stable boy said. "Looks like Stardust's warmed right on up to you."

Across the stables, Envy was watching a black bronco with dark brown eyes, who in turn, was watching him. They held one another's gazes for a moment, before the horse grunted and lowered its head, walking up to the stall door and nudging at Envy's shoulder. The sin grinned, raising a hand and rubbing at his ears affectionately.

"Ah, I see your sister's gone and found ol' Blackjack. He's a good bronco, don't take just anyone though. You two sure ya never rode horses before?"

Ame opened her mouth to say she had, but then realized that that wouldn't fit with their back story, because Envy never had.

"Uh…No. Never sir." she quickly said, to cover herself.

"Really? Well I bet'cher naturals. C'mon, they're already groomed, so let's get 'em saddled up. Reggie!"

A younger stable boy poked his head in from outside.

"Yeah Daschle?"

"Help Eri there get Blackjack saddled, yeah?"

Reggie nodded and walked over to Envy, who quickly slipped into Eri's persona. Ame of course, already being in character, quickly (but shyly) turned to Daschle, awaiting instructions. He smiled at her and she smiled back, before allowing herself to be led towards the saddles and stirrups.

A good thirty or forty-five minutes later found Ame and Envy leading their respective horses outside by the reins, Daschle and Reggie at their sides. Richard had apparently retreated back inside, whether to get more sleep or go to work, they didn't know.

"Now, one kick means trot, two means gallop, and pressin' your knees together on their sides means walk. Pull the reins and tell 'em "Whoa" to stop altogether, okay?"

Envy and Ame both nodded, before mounting their horse and getting situated in the saddle. Apparently, they were supposed to take a short ride along a north bound path they were now being led to, where they'd meet Rydel. Ame would have questioned the planning, except it gave her a chance to work things out with Envy, and take a better look around.

They were led to the path, then each horse was given a swat on the flank and they started off at a brisk trot, Reggie and Daschle disappearing into the background. Ame waited a few minutes, until she was sure they were out of range of hearing and said;

"Well, so much for the tower today, huh?"

Envy sighed irritably.

"Yeeeeah, I guess. How annoying." he pouted. "I hate when plans get all screwy!"

"Like when we found Lab 5?"

Envy half-glared.

"You're lucky I'm still not fully awake."

Ame chuckled to herself, edging Stardust a bit closer to Envy and Blackjack.

"On a more serious note, do you have a back up plan?"

The male sighed and shook his head.

"He's been leaving us to our own devices so much, I didn't really expect him to ask for our attention today…"

A curt nod of her head, and Ame's mind was spinning its cogs, trying to decipher a plan of action. She bit her bottom lip before groaning and throwing her head forward.

"What?"

"Geh. There's nothing else to do. We've gotta sneak out tonight."

"…Damnit, is that our only choice?"

"Do you wanna risk another lost day?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Then yes. It's our only choice."

Envy cursed under his breath, kicking once against Blackjack's side to speed him up. Ame followed suit without question, allowing him to mull things over and awaiting him to speak first. For a long few moments, Envy said nothing and did nothing but ride. Ame did not complain against this, preferring, instead, to think to herself of things more important. What those were however, Ame herself was not sure, for as quickly as the thoughts came, they went again.

Finally, Envy spoke.

"Alright, I'll go tonight."

Ame opened her mouth to protest, but Envy held up a hand.

"No, it's too dangerous for both of us to leave in one night. Besides, I can move faster than you can, while staying inconspicuous." he added as an after thought. He had seen Ame move before, when she really needed to. She was fucking FAST.

The younger of the two looked ready to protest again, but she just closed her mouth and sighed, closing her eyes momentarily, before reopening them.

"Alright Envy." she said softly.

In any other situation, Envy would have crowed at the show of submission, but today he just wasn't feeling it at all. There was something about the way she said it, resignedly, but trustingly at the same time, that really made him feel bad for some reason.

Another few moments went by, then finally, Envy spoke again, pointedly not looking at the younger girl.

"Look, if I think I can sneak you out…I will. Okay?"

Even though he wasn't looking at her, Envy could almost feel Ame's soft smile.

"Thanks Envy."

"Yeah…no problem…"

The rest of the ride commenced in friendly silence.

When they crested the hill they had been climbing (neither had particularly noticed, actually) they found themselves faced with a fully grown palomino male, eyes of hardened chestnut and mane of ashy white. Rydel sat on his back, reins in one hand, the other on the horse's neck, rubbing gently. He looked up just in time to see the two "girls" riding up to him over the hill.

"Ah, there you are! Eri, Ame, come here."

His tone was once more affectionate, but Ame still felt the coldness that his eyes would no doubt convey. But after yesterday's fourth floor discoveries, she truly had to wonder what kind of things Rydel was hiding. And really, she had every right to wonder, after all, that's why she was here, wasn't it?

"We've got a little ways farther to ride, but I assure you, it is worth it my dear girls." he smiled. "I would not wake you so early for nothing after all."

Envy immediately struck up conversation, however small and light, between himself and Rydel, as per character, leaving Ame to follow. For a moment, she considered riding on the man's other side, until she really thought about it and decided, fuck it all, she felt twenty times better riding next to Envy. And that was saying something.

By the time they reached the spot where they were apparently being led, it had to have been around five or five thirty in the morning, and they were finally starting to wake up. The path had narrowed to the point that they were all riding so closely that Envy and Ame's legs kept brushing. Ame would always jump a little whenever this happened, unused to the physical contact from any other being but perhaps Edward and Roy.

The place where Rydel brought his horse (who they learned was named East) to a stop was a high outcrop covered in grass and a few trees. From their current position, one was unable to tell if it was a cliff or a sloping hill, not that it particularly mattered, it was more the vantage point that was important. The barest hints of dawn were touching the treetops below, and as they dismounted, Ame suddenly realized she could see clearer.

Not that she was unable to see in the darkness. Both she and Envy had to act like their vision was human or worse, but truthfully, she could see almost perfectly in the darkness. She was a kitsune after all, a legendary fox yokai, and foxes were nocturnal animals after all. And as for the Homunculi, well, they weren't exactly human, right?

They didn't bother tying the horses reigns, per Rydel's request, and Ame figured they knew to stay. In fact, they unsaddled the horses and gave them a short rubdown, which she for one hardly minded, she really liked Stardust. After the horses were taken care of, Rydel pulled a few items out of his saddle bags and went about setting them up.

"I thought we could eat breakfast out here on the bluff. It's quite beautiful during the day, and the sunrises are exquisite."

Ame paused in her rubdown of Stardust, eyes sort of blank.

"Ame…?"

She glanced over at Envy, who was looking at her in confusion, and, dare she say it, concern.

"…I can't remember the last time I watched the sunrise." she murmured. "I was….I was in Xing(1), the last time…"

Her hand clenched against Stardust's side, causing the mare to whiny softly in worry. Ame wordlessly went back to rubbing her down, eyes slightly glassy in thought. Envy watched her for a moment, absently finishing giving Blackjack his rubdown, before walking over to her.

"Don't think about it Ame. Just think about today, and where you are now."

"And where's that?" she asked bitterly. "The middle of nowhere, with a possible psychopath, a definite psychopath and horses? Yeah, much better."

Envy chuckled.

"Well, you can't get everything in life, right?" he said softly, leaning up to help her get Stardust's back, effectively pressing against her own back.

Ame flushed, but didn't comment on it.

As she worked, she pondered Envy's actions this morning. He was doing a lot of unnecessary things, and it was starting to weird her out. The hand holding made sense, at first, but he had rejoined their hands so many times, she couldn't bring herself to call it acting any more. And she couldn't blame it on lack of sleep or tiredness any longer, as she was now wide awake and felt perfectly fine.

And thus, Ame was utterly confused. Envy was being totally weird, and she wasn't doing anything to stop him in the slightest. All of his actions screamed affection, but, seriously, this was ENVY. Envy didn't, wasn't, and never would be, affectionate in any circumstantial meaning of the word, right? Hell, he didn't give a crap if she lived or died.

*Though…* she thought softly. *He's never actually tried to REALLY hurt us (myself or Edward)…..I guess….*(2)

But that was a far cry from actually being affectionate. But again, this was Envy, and with Envy, you really never could tell what the fuck he was thinking. So Ame just sort of went with it.

Once Stardust's rubdown was done, they were over to join Rydel where he was sitting, having laid out breakfast. Despite the half-darkness, they managed to eat the toast, eggs, bacon and cheese without too much trouble, laughing every time someone spilled something. It was mostly Rydel who knocked things over, seeing as both of his younger companions could see fine, but that didn't matter.

Breakfast went by pretty much normally, just idle chatter and eating, Ame letting up the shy façade a little as if she were warming up to Rydel. At one point, a bit of jam landed on Ame's cheek, and instead of waiting for her to wipe it off, Envy did for her. Once more, something unnecessary, but not unwelcome, that he had done. Ame was seriously getting confused by now, but she disregarded it for a later time.

Once they were through eating, Rydel repacked the saddlebags and told them to go stand over by the edge of the bluff. He joined them shortly, placing his arm around both of their shoulders.

"Now look out there, yes right there, over the treetops." he murmured. "And juuust watch."

He dropped his arm, still standing by "Eri's" side, watching with them. Ame fixed her eyes on a point just above the trees, obsidian eyes glinting with excitement. Envy caught the look and couldn't draw his eyes away.

There was something about Ame whenever she dropped her guard and stopped acting like the whole world was out to get her (which it almost entirely was, but such was the life of the Fullmetal Alchemist and his friends, right?) that he just couldn't help admiring. She was a very pretty girl, beautiful even, if he was totally honest with himself, but she rarely let it show. She covered herself up and locked herself away in hopes that no one would truly see her. Why, he did not know.

But he wished she wouldn't.

Ame shivered suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself. It didn't have anything to do with the cold though, more to do with the memories she was reliving inside her head, but no one else knew that.

"Cold Ame?"

She turned to look at Envy in surprise, and was about to protest that no she wasn't cold, just thinking, when two strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close to a body that was neither inhumanly cold, nor inhumanly warm, but just a comforting temperature. Envy rested his chin on the girl's shoulder, smiling softly and watching as the sun slowly rose up over the treetops towards the horizon.

For a moment, Ame considered pulling away, but then, as the sun started its ascent into the sky, she found her self transfixed by the brilliant colors she hadn't dared lay eyes on since her days in Xing. All the memories she had been thinking of were dashed like tiny sailboats on ocean rocks, crumbling to nothing and leaving her mind mostly blank. Her eyes flashed lime green for a moment, then a grassy forest color(3) before returning to black.

As the sun rose, it suddenly occurred to Ame that she was watching her first sunrise since she left her home country in the arms of a male who was supposed to be her worst enemy, on an undercover mission in the middle of nowhere, with a mysterious possible psychopath feet away from her.

And as Ame settled herself back into Envy's arms, she was pretty damn sure she'd have it no other way.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:**

1- For the record, at the time I started this and mentioned that Ame was from Xing, I was unaware that they actually had an unnamed (if it was ever named, TELL ME) island country in representation of Japan. As I thought that the only Asiatic country in FMA was Xing, I made it Ame's birthplace. That will probably only stand for this fanfic. Just throwing it out there. (Don't want people getting confused later on.)

2- You'll notice, in the manga as well as in Brotherhood, Envy is liable to beat the crap out of Edward, yes, but he never ACTUALLY comes close to killing him. (The time in Gluttony's stomach does not count, they were all out of their freaking minds and he didn't actually get hurt.)

3- I believe I forgot to mention, Ame's eyes change with her mood. I'll tell you what color goes with what mood in a note down here if it's not mentioned in the story itself. Lime green is confusion and grassy-forest is excitement.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY MINDLESS FLUFFFFFF!

Yeah, people requested more romantic/sisterly moments, so here ya go! A FULL CHAPTER OF MEANINGLESS FLUFF JUST TO GET MY ROMANTIC JUICES FLOWING! 8D

Was Envy OOC? Dude, does Envy even HAVE a set character...? He's such an emotional spaz, I mean SERIOUSLY? And if you didn't like him, GET OUTTA MAH STORY BEEZNITCHES! 8D

Anywhom... The next chapter will be sooooo much fun~ You shall all see whyyyyy~ MUAHAHAHAHAHAH


	7. Chapter Six

The Watchtower (Subtitled: Stupid Emotions)

By the time midnight rolled around, the whole house was dead asleep from having woken up early, and all was silent. Well, almost the whole mansion was asleep, at least. Ame and Envy lay awake in their shared bed, backs to one another, Envy staring at the clock, Ame planning escape routes from this room. The hands of the clock struck twelve thirty and Envy was up, pulling off his pajamas to reveal his usual Homunculi induced clothing underneath.

Ame herself was out of the bed mere moments later, tugging off her own night clothing and pulling on her usual boots over the legs of her pants.

"I've always wondered;" Envy muttered as she zipped the boots up. "Are those pants leather?"

"SO not the time." Ame whispered back, without the usual bite it should hold. "And for the record, NO they are not."

"What ARE they then…?"

"I have no idea, but I do know that the fabric is from Xing and its very durable and very comfortable."

Envy poked her thigh and Ame squeaked.

"They feel like denim."

"DAMNIT ENVY!" she hissed as quietly as she could. "NOT the FUCKING time for this!"

"Sorry, sleep deprivation gets to me sometimes. Have you any chocolate?"

Ame stared at him like he'd grown another head.

"Wakes me up." he said simply.

"Do you get sugar high by chance…?"

"No, I do not. I get caffeine high though. Never give me coffee."

"I will keep that in mind."

It was lucky however, that Ame had an affection for chocolate of her own, usually supplied by a certain Colonel Mustang when he wanted blackmail on Edward, or by Alphonse whenever he wanted her to keep quiet about a cat. In this case, it had been a cat she was keeping quiet about, and she had just sort of forgotten to take the chocolate out of her bag. Grabbing the bar of confection sweetness, she snapped it in half and handed it to Envy. He took the offered half of the sweet and bit into it, savoring the first bite with a pleased look on his face, before devouring the whole thing in under a minute.

"…"

"Alright, I'm better now."

"…I have NEVER seen ANYONE eat that fast."

"What can I say, it was good chocolate."

Ame mentally reminded herself to tell Al to get the same kind next time so she could share with En-

*…What am I thinking? Next time I see Envy, once this freaking mission is over, we'll be enemies again! I can't go around handing him chocolate!*

Envy was over by the window by the time Ame snapped out of her thoughts, eyes flickering around as if searching for something.

"I can fly down from here." he mumbled. "And there's a vine, but it only reaches the first story, so I don't know how you-"

Before the Homunculi could finish the sentence, Ame had pushed him out of the way, and was leaning out the window. She caught sight of the vine he was talking about and smirked. They may be on the second floor, but she could easily get down from here. Placing her hand against the wall, she murmured softly in the kitsune tongue, sending a bit of her power over the earth down to the plant. She could tell Envy was watching her and she really didn't mind.

For a second, it appeared as though nothing was happening, until Envy took a second look at the vine and realized that it was rapidly growing upwards towards Ame's hand against the stone. In a matter of moments, the vine grew up around Ame's wrist and twined through her fingers before stopping.

Envy stared.

'Elemental powers(1) Envy. Remember that little bit?' muttered his inner voice.

*…Oh. Yeah. Those.*

Ame smirked at him.

"No excuse to keep me here now."

"I can see that." Envy said with a scowl. But he didn't really mean it.

Shifting quietly into a raven, Envy hopped onto the windowsill, then out of the window so he could ultimately plummet towards the ground, then turn at just the right moment to fly himself back up to the window. He flapped there, waiting for Ame to get a move on, and she got the message. Swinging herself up onto the edge of the window, Ame clicked her fingers, and the vine wrapped around her waist.

"Meet you at the bottom." she whispered to Envy, before closing the window and allowing the vine to shrink and bring her towards the ground.

*Smart.* Envy thought. *Get down AND return the vine to normal height all at once.*

Envy landed on the branch of a tree just as Ame's feet touched the ground. The vine slithered away from around her waist and laid itself against the wall again. Ame straightened her shirt and pulled up the hood on the back of it, concealing her peony hair and masking her in the darkness. She turned to the north and squinted at the tower.

"It's pretty far away." she murmured. "How are we going to get to it fast enough?"The sin jumped to the ground, already shifted back into his humanoid form, also staring out at the tower.

"I figure we have about four hours." he said softly. "Give or take. Most likely take." he added.

"That's not very long. It'll take us at least forty five minutes or more to reach it at this rate."

Envy had to agree, and for a minute, he was puzzled as to what to do. Suddenly, an idea struck him and he stood straight. Turning to Ame, he said seriously.

"Get on my back."

"What?"

"Seriously," he said calmly as he could. "Get on my back. I can get us there faster."

Deciding that arguing would just waste time, Ame waited for Envy to crouch down and she did as told, climbing onto his back. Envy lifted her as if she wasn't even there (and albeit, Ame was pretty damn light, she had a fox's waistline(2), but she wasn't weightless!) and started off at a jog that quickly turned to a run. Ame only noticed when the shoulders she had been clinging to suddenly became furry, that Envy had shifted into the form of a large black cheetah(3).

Ame gaped for a minute at the powerful strides Envy was taking, long and fast, as if this were as easy as breathing. Seeing at she'd only ever seen him transforming for the purpose of harming others, she'd never really had the chance to admire the sheer power and beauty behind every transformation. It was effortless for him, to switch from one body to another, and always remain this sleek, powerful creature without any trouble.

If Ame hadn't been secluded with him, learning his GOOD points, she would have been looking for ways to diminish that power and perfectness. But instead, she was admiring it, and wondering why in the gods names people considered Homunculi monsters. Sure some of them were cruel and evil (Pride, the little brat, Wrath, stupid old fogey, Greed…) but weren't humans the same way? If they judged based only on bad traits, they'd never be able to see the good points.

Sure Envy was a little on the crazy side, but hell, Edward wasn't without his crazy psycho quirks. The whole short thing for one.

They reached the tower in just over thirty minutes and Ame had to admit, she was pretty damn impressed. She'd seen cheetahs before, and they usually didn't move THAT fast. Apparently the whole Homunculi thing gave normal attributes like speed an added boost. She filed that away in the back of her mind for later on, because gods only knew when she'd need that bit of information.

The base of the tower was surrounded by trees and shrubs, and Envy stopped a good four yards away from the closest side, hiding them in the shadows of the greenery. It wasn't hard, they were both in entirely black, and it was the middle of the night with naught more than a crescent moon. Someone would need to have night vision to see them at this point. Unless they were like an animal that could sense heat sources, but the point is that you couldn't see them at all, whatsoever.

Ame slid from his back soundlessly, automatically smoothing out the fur she had ruffled, petting it into laying flat. She almost missed the hint of a purr from Envy, which he seemed to nice at the same time because he snapped his mouth shut. It was kind of cute, hearing a full grown panther purring from her absentminded petting. Even if it was Envy.

Envy shook himself off, before shifting back into his human form and brushing a hand through his hair. While he was grumbling something about trees or underbrush and leaves (twigs, branches, basically anything that could get caught in his hair), Ame looked him over. For a second, she couldn't quite tell what was amiss, until she realized that Envy wasn't even out of breath. After a run like that, one should at the very least be panting, if not downright gasping, but he was doing neither.

*Well, just dandy, he's got the best stamina in the world on top of everything else.*

Then of course, Ame recalled that for the moment, they were on the same side, and so technically this was a good thing not a bad one. Of course, when they went back to being enemies was an entirely different matter.

"So." Envy murmured. "How do we get in, and what are we looking for…?"

Ame stared up at the huge tower, craning her neck back to gaze at the top spire, which reached off into the heavens. She contemplated his question for a moment, truly thinking over what should be done, eyes narrowed slightly in concentration.

"First things first…" she began after a few moments. "We figure out what kinda security this thing has, then we'll get back to the other two."

Envy nodded once, already starting to shift forms.

"Meet you back here in five, you take the grounds area." he said quickly. "I'll take the skies."

And before Ame could argue, he had already shifted into the form of the raven from earlier and took off. Muttering about men and how they never listened, she darted off at a speed not human at all, dashing through the trees as if she had grown up in them.

I won't go into the details of what either found, because it would only serve to bore you as they found, well, NOTHING. The lone tower in the middle of the woods seemed to be just that; a random, lone tower in the middle of the woods. Which begged the question, what in the name of all things alchemical was it doing out here at all?

Envy landed beside Ame, shifting back instantaneously, looking a cross between miffed and confused.

"Did you find-"

Ame cut him off with an irritated snap of;

"Nothing, no one and allow me to reiterate; NOTHING."

Envy sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand, middle finger and thumb pressing to his temples.

"Great, so, basically, as far as we know this is just a tower in the middle of nowhere for no damn reason, right?"

"Right." Ame sighed herself. "Which, of course, is highly possible. Rich people are known to do weird things with their money. This might be nothing."

Envy scoffed and looked up at the tower.

"If you really thought that, you'd already be heading back, wouldn't you be?"

"Fair enough."

For a moment, they just stood there, and Ame stared at Envy. She made sure her look was calculating, because she was sure he KNEW she was staring, it would be sort of hard NOT to know. If he asked, she'd rocket off something about analyzing him or…something Edward-y, because god knows how many times he's stared at one of the Homunculi, just wondering about them. (And seriously, he did it a lot more than one would imagine, it was a little disconcerting sometimes.)

Really though, Ame wasn't studying Envy, she was just…looking at him. For the first time ever, Ame just looked at Envy, as Envy, not as "the Homunculus", not as her enemy, just as Envy. Envy the human, no, but just…Envy. Envy who like her was inhuman, but unlike her used his abilities and prowess for things that could harm others, not help them. He was not good or evil in this moment, he just was, and Ame found, to her shock, she actually kind of liked it.

In all honesty, Envy was fascinating, beautiful and raw. He never covered who he truly was, not when he was in this form, the one he used as his "self". He always followed himself and no other, and while he bowed to "Father", it was on the basic principle of him having superior powers to himself. Envy never sugarcoated things, never glossed over, he was truth in its most basic and primal form. If he hated something, he hated it, if he liked it, he liked it.

Ame remembered with a faint jolt, that just two days before, Envy had said that he liked HER. But Ame put it out of her mind, because she really didn't have the energy to delve into what THAT could possibly mean. Envy was such an enigma in both mind and body, she wondered where the beginnings of his maze of thoughts was and where it ended, or if it even did. What was at the center then? At the core of his being? Not literally, not the philosopher's stone that she knew thudded softly within his chest at this very minute, but at the core of HIM. Of ENVY, of who HE was and what HE thought.

Not what he was created as, however "perfect" that supposedly was, really, Envy WASN'T all that perfect, as far as Ame could see. Perhaps Homunculi were glossed over and fictionalized as the "perfect human", but really, they weren't at all, in Ame's eyes. Envy was far too pale, almost sickly white, and he always had slight dark bags under his eyes, as if he wasn't sleeping enough. He was thin to a point that most would think unhealthy, and he never wore enough clothing, never mind his choice of footwear. His eyes were just too startling of a violet and his hair was so inky black it looked like it was tinted a deep dark emerald sometimes in the right kind of light.

And really, if it wasn't Envy, Ame KNEW she would think him strange (she still thought him strange, actually) and a little disturbing, but it was Envy, and truthfully, somehow, he made the look work. She didn't know how or why, or maybe it was simply because she was used to him looking like this, but Ame thought he looked just right. Well, not right, but…sort of like he was supposed to…? Ame wasn't sure how to describe it, she just knew that she liked how Envy looked and that was that.

In fact, if she was totally honest with herself, Envy was downright attractive. He may be an odd combination of the wrong, the right and the downright unnatural, but hell with it, he pulled it off well and he probably knew it. Which was why Ame was never going to say that she found him attractive out loud to anyone ever. She was having a hard enough time admitting it to herself, let alone to another person.

Besides, he'd just use it against her, and it would swell his damn ego huger than it already was. Ame didn't need the puffed-up palm tree knowing that she wouldn't say no to falling asleep in his arms, or kissing him, and that she really didn't mind holding his hand. Yeah, those things needed to be kept deep inside of herself where no one else could find them.

And anyway, it wasn't like she actually liked Envy. She found him aesthetically pleasing, and rather alluring, sure. But he was a stark raving PSYCHO and her enemy, attraction or not, she couldn't step over that line. He was great up until the whole "out of his mind" bit.

'Is he REALLY out of his mind though?' whispered a small voice in the back of her head. 'Or does he just act that way, the same way you act all cold and emotionless around anyone you don't know?'

Ame mentally smacked the other voice in her head, then threw it down a long, dark shaft into the pits of nowhere at all. Hopefully, it would stay there and never again speak to her. (The probability of this actually happening is about the same as Edward not spazzing over someone calling him short.)

*Acting? Please, this is ENVY we're talking about.* she mentally scoffed.

But the whole argument of "this is ENVY" wasn't particularly cutting it anymore, as the longer she spent in his company, the less she was seeing the out of his mind insaniac she was used to. He was quirky, sure, a little out there, yes, but not bloodthirsty and raving mad. Not unless he was seriously provoked.

"So…I suppose this leaves us to go in through the front door and see what's going on in there, huh?"

Ame snapped out of her thoughts in milliseconds flat and had her eyes turned to the tower in less time.

"I suppose so. Unless of course, you saw a window…?"

Envy shook his head.

"No, there were no windows at all. Front door it is." he smirked at Ame and for a second she had to quell down a blush. "Shall I do the honors or would you like to?"

Ame smirked right back, deciding that she would pointedly ignore the blush she had almost let slip, seeing as Envy smirking at her was nothing new and she had never reacted like that before. It was just a spur of the moment reaction.

"Please, be my guest."

"Don't mind if I do."

Envy darted his way out of the trees and up to the front door, crouching down before it and fiddling with the lock expertly. In a few moments he had the door open before him, and he turned, motioning to Ame once before slipping inside. Ame slid after him seconds later, having darted as fast as a shadow across the space between the bushes where she had crouched and the door. If Envy found her speed anything more than human, he refrained from comment.

Once she was inside, Envy shut the door as quietly as if someone were listening for the click of the lock, then turned to where Ame was looking. It took both of their eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden complete lack of light, but once they were used to it, they stared for a moment.

There was nothing in the tower to suggest anyone had ever been inside of it, ever, let alone recently. But Ame could feel the faint traces of life floating around, old, yes, but not old enough to lose her interest. In the middle of the tower was the beginnings of a huge spiral staircase, and as Envy's eyes trailed up he found that it reached high into the topmost spire of the tower. The structure looked fairly new, and wrought iron, as if it had been made about ten years ago or so. There was no dust on it, just the usual scuff marks and dirt of any other staircase.

"Tower with a giant staircase in it;" Envy began in a half-amused tone. "Interested, or bored?"

Ame's look would have been withering, but her companions smirk-like grin was contagious and she couldn't help a small bit of amusement leaking into her expression.

"Interested, if you really MUST ask." she said teasingly. "Shall we go up then?"

Envy mock bowed.

"Ladies first."

"Oh? Is big-bad Envy scared of the stair monsters?"

If he had done anything more than pout and let out an indignant exclamation, Ame didn't see, as she was already climbing the stairs.

The climb was long and altogether uneventful and rather boring. At one point, Envy turned back into his black cheetah form and bounded up the stairs with her on his back again, with the excuse that she was slowing him down. (Really though, he was more worried about her tiring herself out, but he'd be damned if he told HER that.)

The top of the stairs yielded a small two by one foot landing of cedar wood that Ame wouldn't have set foot in normally, but the door was highly suspicious, as well as highly inviting, so she let her cautiousness slip for the moment. Envy had her wait on the steps for a moment so he could check for traps of any kind (seeing as he couldn't die and all), and finding none, he tried the door. He wasn't really expecting it to be unlocked, so when he turned the knob, only to find that it turned full circle without even a hint of a catch, he was surprised.

Nonetheless, he pushed open the door and stepped inside, making sure there were no inward traps, before gesturing Ame inside with him. The young kitsune slipped inside without complaint, glad to be standing on stone instead of rickety wood, and took a look around.

The room was completely and totally bare of any kind of object, just stone walls and floor, and one huge window without any glass. Air from the night outside blew in, and Ame couldn't help a small shiver. Seeing as how high they were at the moment, the air was far more chilled than it was on the ground, and it felt rather frosty. It was proof and a reminder that the rainy season of autumn was giving way to the icy winter to come. Ame hoped they weren't here when it snowed, as it would no doubt snow hard, and they would be cut off from the outside world more than usual.

Envy was staring at something, and at first Ame thought it was the sill of the huge window, until she herself also looked where he was. There, bolted to the window, was a telescope, long, bronze and pointed towards the middle of the forest.

"Well, I'd say empty room with a telescope thickens the plot a bit, huh?"

Envy nodded his agreement, before walking over to the scope. He grabbed it, trying to turn it, only to find it soldered in place. He exchanged a glance with Ame.

"What's the use of a telescope if you can't change where you're looking?" he asked calmly.

"To keep watch on something." Ame answered evenly.

Ame dropped to her knees in front of the eyepiece, leaning forward and closing her other eye to look through it. She felt more than heard or saw Envy drop down beside her on one knee, and suppressed a shiver at his closeness. Really, she had no idea where these feelings were coming from. It was thoroughly confusing her.

Focusing her attention on what she saw through the scope, she peered carefully into the forest. Even in the darkness, it was plain to see what was meant to be looked at through this scope.

In the middle of the thick, closely grown trees was a patch of nothing, a clearing. In and of itself, not all that strange, sure, but when she looked closer, squinted her eye, she could almost make out a fence around the area.

"Envy, c'mere, tell me if you see a fence around that clearing." she asked, moving to the side.

Envy took his turn looking through the telescope, and nodded once.

"Yeah I see it." he pulled back and turned to her. "I don't think this is all coincidence. Someone's watching that grove for a reason."

Ame nodded gravely.

"And I'm betting it has to do with those chimera. We need to check it out."

As she made to rise, Envy placed a hand on her arm, making her freeze.

"Not tonight." he said easily, squeezing her forearm gently. "It's getting closer to dawn and we need to get back. Besides, you need sleep."

She half glared at him, emotions mixed between being touched at his concern, and annoyed that he was stopping her.

"So? Don't YOU need sleep too?"

He shook his head.

"Not as much as you do. Rydel will wonder why you look tired tomorrow if you don't sleep a few hours. I can ask Lacey to give you an extra hour in the morning if you aren't up, but we really need to get back Ame."

Gritting her teeth against the annoyance and trying to at the same time ignore the feeling of elation that Envy was concerned over her (another one of those emotions that was popping up out of nowhere), she nodded.

"Fine."

Envy smirked at his victory, but had Ame on his back and was bounding down the stairs as a cheetah before she could so much as say another word.

The trip back seemed shorter than the one there, and the climb back to their room was uneventful. As soon as the vine was back to its normal length and Envy was back in his humanoid form, the two slipped into their pajamas, then into bed. It was only when Ame's head touched the pillow that she realized just how tired she really was after all. Deciding that she would ignore the fact that Envy had been right after all, she settled herself under the warm covers and snuggled the pillow. Her "sister" joined her in bed, and had Ame been more awake, she would have complained as he let his arm rest across her ribs. As it were, they were both too damn tired to care that they had fallen asleep in a position that in the morning, they would both deny vehemently to themselves.

Ame Kurotsuki and Envy did NOT cuddle, after all.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:**

1- Ame's kitsune abilities revolve around the elements. I'll explain more in later chapters, so no bitching at me for details pleaaaase….

2- Ame's not SUPER thin, like super model freaky thin *brickd*, but she's pretty damn thin. Kitsune, being fox yokai, are usually really thin. They have the metabolism of foxes. (They can eat a whole bunch at one time and gain NO weight, or they can go days without food and be virtually fine.)

3- These things be reals. I seens them.

**IN MY DEFENCE I HAVE HAD NO INTERNET AT MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME IM INNOCENT!**

*hides*

Chapter seven is almost done...?


	8. Chapter Seven

A Day Without Purpose

Ame was awoken at around nine or ten in the morning by Envy, who despite being more awake than she was hadn't even tried to move away from their cuddled position. (How once more they had found themselves in such a state, she still wasn't sure, but she was getting used to it.) For a few leisurely seconds she allowed herself to just lay against Envy, feigning a half-asleep state. She observed casually that Envy neither emitted body heat nor took any away, though his skin was slightly warmer than it should have been. Likewise, when they had been out in the cold the night before, his skin had been slightly colder than an average persons. It was like they adapted to the climate accordingly so they never felt the temperature change.

Eventually Ame got up the strength to move herself, pulling sluggishly away from Envy's almost curled embrace. Maybe it was because she was half-asleep, but it seemed almost as if he grasped at her and tried to pull her back. Then again, it probably WAS just her imagination, because this was EN-

…That excuse was getting so old and so overused that it had lost all meaning to her. Envy was quickly proving that he was an unpredictable and highly confusing being that by no means conformed to any kind of stereotype. She didn't even know what to think about him these days. It was like he was still the same Envy she knew from all their fights and brawls and arguments, but at the same time he was a lot more like someone completely different. And really, the strangest thing? Probably the fact that Ame didn't even hesitate to go with the flow and adjust herself to the changes in his attitude and personality. Ame had always, always been good at reading people and going with how they were feeling, but this was taking it to a whole other level. She'd never have dreamed of allowing herself to curl up in Envy's arms before now, never would have thought that she would finally stop caring how Envy acted as long as he wasn't annoying her.

At this point, Ame wasn't even worried that he would harm her, and that was the most worrying part. It wasn't that she was letting her guard down, it was more that her guard was adjusting to fit Envy inside the safe zone. It had done the same to Edward, and Alphonse, and even Roy Mustang, Ling too, but Envy was another matter. Envy was a homunculi and the moment they were away from this mission, her enemy once more. If she felt safe around him, then her drive to fight him would all but disappear and then they'd be in real trouble.

Despite this fact, Ame slipped out of bed, stretched with a small mew-like groan as her back popped, then turned back to Envy.

"What's the plan for today then?" she asked, rubbing a hand across her eye.

"Well, I'd like to go search out that clearing." Envy said, propping himself up on one elbow on his side. "But I'm not too sure that's gonna be happening."

"Why not?"

He made a vague gesture.

"Rydel. Apparently he feels bad about not spending enough time with, and I quote; 'You darling little angels.'"

Ame scoffed, rolling her eyes and putting her hands on her hips.

"Angels. Wow, I've been called a LOT of things in my life, angel is SO not one of them."

"Likewise."

For a minute both fell silent, before they started laughing at the ridiculousness of themselves being called "angels". It wasn't really all that funny at all, but for some reason they couldn't stop laughing for a good five minutes straight, with no real reason why.

Once they had finally silenced themselves, they were all business again.

"So another day with Rydel then? Alright. We'll just have to work around that." Ame said, tapping a knuckle against her bottom lip. "Should we slip out tonight again?"

Envy sat up, resting on his arms, covers still laying against his waist.

"No, no, two nights in a row is seriously risky, even if no one saw us last night. We should wait for another open day. It's not like the clearing is going anywhere, and besides. I'd like to see those trucks you were talking about the other day."Ame nodded her head.

"Alright. We'll think up a plan of action some other time then. Relaxation day?"

"If you call pretending to be a teenage girl relaxing."

The younger of the two chuckled.

"It's not as if you haven't done it before Envy."

"Well yeah but I LOOKED like a teenage girl then and- Say what you're thinking and I'll kill you."

The glare was halfhearted and looked much more like a pout and Ame stifled her giggles for the sake of Envy's pride if nothing else. Her eyes said it all anyway. It was true. Envy DID look like a teenage girl sometimes.

They dressed in comfortable silence, backs to one another as per usual, only the rustle of clothing and the occasional zip or unzip of a suitcase. Ame's attire consisted of another black skirt (she really detested wearing it, but she had to stay in character) and a powder blue button up shirt with a soft black ribbon tied about the collar. Her legs were covered with gray-black tights and she put on the shiny leather shoes again, lacing them up over her ankles.

Envy had pulled on a pair of relatively loose khaki pants and a gray shirt made of t-shirt material so it was stretchy and soft. He ran his fingers through his long hair, really wishing he was back in his normal clothing. It wasn't that he disliked pants or long sleeved shirts, he didn't, but they just didn't feel right. Maybe it came from a lifetime of wearing the same thing day in day out, he wasn't sure.

Deciding to go it without his headband today, he turned around to look at Ame, who was smoothing down her skirt.

"I don't know how you stand these things." she grumbled. "Skort or not."

Envy shrugged.

"I've always worn it. Besides, it's more like something to cover than an actual skort."

Ame raised an eyebrow and Envy shrugged again.

"Those shorts are skin tight you know."

Ame flushed, but quickly fought it down, clearing her throat awkwardly.

"Well, I'm not fond of them. They're too open and flowy. Pants are more comfortable."

The male laughed, putting a hand on his hip as she once more smoothed down the fabric.

"But it looks good on you!"

The instant he said it, Envy's wondered "What the HELL" and his brain momentarily stopped. He had just inadvertently both complimented Ame and told her she looked good, which was not something Envy did on a regular basis. Ever, actually. He hadn't even meant to say it, it just sort of slipped out. She DID look good though, really pretty in fact, but the situation was bad enough as was, so he kept that part to himself.

If Ame found the comment strange, he didn't notice. As it were, she raised an eyebrow, though it went unseen, but then proceeded to simply say smoothly; "Shut up." and go about folding her pajamas on top of her pillow again.

They were out of their room and into the hall in another five minutes, making their way down to the dining room (if you could call that huge place a room at all) where they would maybe find Rydel but at the least get something to eat. It was almost eleven a.m. and they had gone without food for quite a few hours longer than usual, so they were both feeling rather hungry.

Rydel wasn't there to eat with them, but Reena was there and so was Lacey, who scuttled off to the kitchens to tell them that breakfast could be served now.

Envy chattered away with Reena, gossiping like any teenage girl would, and Ame listened quietly beside them. Every now and again Envy's hand would brush hers or absent mindedly fiddle with her hair, and try as she might to convince herself that it was all a part of his character, she was quickly losing that mental battle. He wasn't usually so touchy-feely, even in character (their sleeping arrangements DID NOT count), though she was once more growing used to the odd behavior. If Envy felt the need to instigate some kind of physical contact between them, great, fine, what did she care. It wasn't like he was doing anything unfriendly.

The food came and they ate mostly in silence, broken only by the occasional comment or quip thrown between Reena and Envy. Ame chewed and swallowed her bread and jam quietly, trying to think of what they might be doing today and figuring out at the same time, a good time to go back and see those trucks. She couldn't really guarantee they'd be there in the first place, so she used the small time where no one was paying attention to her to arrange her thoughts into a manageable placement.

To quickly catalog the day of her discovery, Rydel had gone out on business, they'd gone their separate ways under the guise of Envy's "heart condition", found that family of foxes (she really missed Aynae), then found the road where the chimera trucks were. Narrowing her eyes slightly in thought, she assessed the situation a second time. As far as she could tell, this all played around Rydel being gone. If that was the case, then the next day he "went out for business" would be the day she could safely say more trucks were coming. In theory.

Apparently she had spaced out, because Envy lightly flicked her temple, giving her a questioning look. Shaking her head lightly, Ame asked politely if Reena could get her some tea, claiming her throat was a bit sore. After a quick fuss and a slight "you poor dear!" Reena was off into the kitchens. As soon as she was gone, Envy poked her temple.

"You okay there, spacey?"

"Shaddup." she mumbled, biting into her toast again.

Envy poked her a second time.

"Seriously, what's up?"

"Just thinking."

"About?"

Ame absentmindedly poked at her eggs with her fork, eyes half closed.

"The chimera trucks, where I found them, Rydel, Aynae…"

Envy looked a little confused.

"Who's Aynae?"

"This fox-kit I met. His mother and siblings led me to the road where the trucks were."

The male chuckled lightly.

"So it's true, the kitsune CAN talk to foxes."

Ame's reaction wasn't quite the one he had been vying for, which was a lot more snappy and annoyed. Instead, Ame just shrugged halfheartedly.

"I don't know. I can speak to them in the kitsune language, but I never understand their responses. I think I'm supposed to be able to, at least eventually, I wouldn't know though…"

"How'd you get Aynae then?"

"It came to mind and he liked it so I kept calling him that."

Envy watched as Ame put her toast down, resting her elbows on the table, linking her hands and pressing her thumbs to her temples.

"You alright?" he asked carefully.

"Headache." Ame mumbled.

"Maybe you should go lay down for a bit if you're not feeling too good…"

Ame looked up at him through her bangs.

"Since when do you care?"

Envy was silent for a moment, before shrugging lightly.

"Can't I care about my partner in crime?"

"When did I become any such thi-"

Envy's arm slung around her shoulder, making her jolt in shock.

"Look, we're stuck together, you've said it yourself. Instead of making a big deal about it, let's try to get along. Honestly Ame, I think we work well together. If we were on the same side I'd totally trade in Lust and get you as my partner."

Ame scoffed lightly.

"The day I become a homunculus is the day I kiss Roy Mustang."

"…That's not very soon is it?"

"That's never."

"Ah."

Ame barely noticed her head resting against his shoulder until he pressed cool fingers to her forehead.

"You haven't got a fever, but you don't look very good. You really should go lay down."

Blearily, Ame reopened her eyes, looking up through her bangs at Envy's own eyes, which she found to be disconcertingly close. She couldn't complain however, it was her own fault she was in this position in the first place.

"No, I'd rather not be a burden."

"You're not." Envy soothed. "You need your rest, we only got a few hours sleep Ame."

"I've run off less…"

"Ame, it was cold out there. You weren't dressed properly."

"You were?"

"I don't feel cold."

Ame shook her head, sitting straight again and rubbing her forehead.

"I just need caffeine…"

As if on call, Reena appeared, carrying a tray with a teapot and teacup on it. She smiled at them, either not caring or not noticing as Ame scooted away from her "sister". Placing the tray before Ame, she explained what kind of tea it was (some black something or other, Ame didn't care, it had caffeine in it), then took her leave.

The young kitsune sucked down two cups of the strong tea black before making a third with milk and sugar. Envy waited for that third cup before pouring himself some of the tea and slowly drinking it, watching her all the while. He observed casually that the color was quickly returning to her cheeks, and she didn't look so sickly or tired. Drinking down his own tea and finishing off his breakfast, he waited for Ame to finish before rising from the table.

"I don't know if you were paying attention, but Reena says Rydel is in the library I found the other day. Shall we?"

Ame took one last gulp of tea before nodding and rising from her seat. She smoothed out her skirt and walked around the side of the table so she was standing beside her companion.

"Please, lead the way."

The walk to the library was quick and uneventful save passing Richard who bowed to them before puttering off. Envy climbed the stairs first this time, and Ame just tagged at his heels like any little sister would, never speaking a word. The third floor was pretty much deserted and utterly silent, leaving the pair to pad their way to the library, their footfalls the loudest thing around.

Perhaps out of habit, or perhaps simply because both of their minds strayed there, they both turned to look at the staircase upward to the fourth floor. Ame suppressed a small shiver, stepping closer to Envy who took her hand, both still staring at the stairway.

"You know," Envy murmured. "I get the feeling that the story behind those rooms is bad enough to make us feel BAD for Rydel."

Ame nodded bleakly.

"Can we please keep going…?" she mumbled.

"Right, sorry."

Envy dragged her down the hall to the library, not even knocking before pushing the door open and walking inside.

Unlike the day he found it, the lights were on in the library and everything looked relatively cleaner than before. The curtains were open and the windows cleaned, the shelves dusted and books arranged neatly, those few volumes that had been left out put away. In the middle of the room stood Rydel, flipping through a book. He was dressed in black slacks and a deep maroon dress shirt, collar unbuttoned, with his hair slicked back as per usual.

Envy cleared his throat and the elder man looked up.

"Ah! Eri, Ame, good to see you're up. Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Yes, we slept fine." Envy said smoothly. "We left our window open is all, so we were rather cold. I got up at around midnight to close it and woke Ame up. We couldn't get back to sleep for a few more hours, that's all."

Ame had to admire Envy's planning. He had just covered the time they were moving about and then out of the room without missing a beat.

"Is that so? Well, at least you slept in then, yes?"

Envy beamed charmingly.

"Yes indeed."

Ame fidgeted slightly. She really didn't like the way whenever Rydel smiled, his eyes remained lifeless and cold. It made her feel like she was watching an animated corpse and that at any minute a puppet master would jump out of nowhere. Envy's hand closed tighter around hers, and she could feel the tension in his grip. He was just as un comfortable as she was in this situation, and that was comforting to think of. If Envy wasn't comfortable, then she knew she wasn't just being irrational.

Rydel went on to explain that he figured they could spend the day in the library together, seeing as the day was unusually chilled with the first cold of winter. Neither of the two "siblings" decided to complain, seeing as it WAS cold outside, warmer in here, and spending the day in a library was never a bad thing.

They ended up going around the shelves and picking out different books to look at, sitting themselves down and reading little bits and pieces, sometimes out loud, sometimes to themselves. Envy somehow managed to find all the comedy styled books, from romantic comedy to just plain old comedy, and kept the atmosphere light. Ame on the other hand had a knack for finding the horror and fantasy novels, and more than once Envy ended up demanding she read more of the chapter she had been reading to them.

In all truth it wasn't such a bad day, and was rather relaxing. Ame's headache stuck around though, despite how hard she tried to rid herself of it. She did hide it rather well however, though she had a feeling Envy wasn't buying it from the way he would look at her every time she winced. But what was she expecting, this was Envy after all, he was rather perceptive.

They explored every shelf they came to, sometimes asking Rydel what a title was or meant if it was in a different language, even if they knew it. After all, they were pretending to be normal teenagers, and normal teenagers didn't know what things in Latin, or in one terrifying case for Envy, Xeresian, meant. Rydel seemed all too happy to oblige in their questions and answered smoothly and animatedly, making it easy for Ame and Envy to act interested.

When Envy was up on one of the ladders that led to the higher shelves, he looked up curiously at the topmost shelf.

"Hey Rydel, what books are up there?" he asked curiously, voice pitched high.

Rydel glanced up from where he was reading over Ame's shoulder, looking over at where Envy stood. His eyes flickered first to Envy, then to the books he was indicating and immediately rose from his position on the couch. (Secretly, Ame cheered.)

"Just some more mature books is all. Did you want to see one of them Eri?"

"Yes please, the red one up there."

Rydel walked over and gestured for Envy to get down from the ladder.

"I can get it…"

"No, no, let me."

Envy said no more, just scampered down the ladder and plopped himself down beside his partner, watching Rydel climb to get his book. He said nothing, but Ame could practically see the cogs in his head turning, over what she wasn't sure but she noted to ask him about it later on.

Rydel climbed the ladder and grabbed the book Envy had been indicating, climbing back down and handing it off to him. Envy fake-cheered and turned around to lean against Ame's side and flip open the book with interest. At first the younger girl was sure it had to be some kind of alchemy book or something else equally strange, but to her surprise it was actually a large book of old fashion fairytales.

If Envy's interest hadn't been so genuine, she would have sworn it was just him acting in character. As it was, he really did seem just fascinated with the first story (an Egyptian tale about the cat goddess Bastet) and was totally engrossed in the words on the page. Questioning Envy's odd behavioral habits had yet to serve her, so she stuck to just letting him be his weirdo self. It was easier like that after all.

The rest of the day went by smoothly and without consequence, though both of the "siblings" took the hint and kept well away from the top shelves of the library. Other than that nothing much happened that is worth mentioning, accept that Envy gave Rydel a hug that made Ame almost fall out of her chair laughing. (She would have too if it weren't for the fact that she was pretending to be a shy, innocent little girl.)

Envy's glare was enough to almost start her giggles out loud, but she managed to quiet herself behind her book.

They ate lunch in the library, being surprisingly careful about the books (or at least that's what Rydel said), and continued their reading for the rest of the evening. Ame's headache wasn't really wearing off but she was quickly getting used to it, which meant she was probably going to have it for a while.

Dinnertime rolled around and they finally left the library just as the sun was setting. Or at least, they guessed the sun was setting, they weren't really sure, as the sky had become smothered in clouds. Dinner was a lively affair, talking about stories and concepts they had read that day, and in any other situation, Ame would have called it a good time. Unfortunately, her headache reared its ugly head again and she kept wincing every time a voice was raised.

After dinner, they sat at the table and continued talking for a good hour and a half before Envy noticed Ame's almost continual winces and presses to her temples and asked if they could retire to their room. They were excused and Ame decided she definitely owed Envy for that one.

Back in their room Ame collapsed face first onto their shared bed with a groaned, wishing that she could fall into a pit of darkness or make her headache go away. At the moment, she was leaning towards pit of darkness.

"Is it really that bad?" Envy asked, closing and locking their door.

"Yes." she groaned.

Another stab of pain made its way through her skull and she whimpered.

"They haven't been this bad for months."

She felt the bed shift as Envy sat down beside her, kicking off his shoes.

"Do you get headaches often?"

Vaguely, she shook her head, then wished desperately she hadn't.

"Nn…" she groaned softly before answer. "No. No, only when I'm really stressed, usually. I have no idea what brought this one on…"

For a minute all was silent and Ame took solace in the small amount of relief this gave her. Then, out of the blue, she felt hands on her shoulders and before she could ask what in gods name Envy was doing, she was lost in a feeling of upending euphoric relief. Whatever Envy was doing, pressing his fingers there, kneading muscles here, it felt GOOD and she REALLY didn't want him to stop.

"Maybe it's because you're so tense." he mused out loud.

Ame couldn't find words, her mind was completely glossed over from the sheer pleasure of every bit of tension getting released from her back. Envy didn't seem to mind though, continuing his ministrations down from her shoulders to her shoulder blades, then down along her ribs to the base of her spine. Here he pressed his thumbs down just so that her back arched enough to produce a few small cracks of the vertebrate.

Envy seemed pleased with this reaction and started using his knuckles to knead up her spine, paying extra attention to the area between her shoulder blades, gaining a few more small cracks from her spine. He paused however, before going any further.

"Should I keep going?" he asked softly, rubbing at her shoulders gently.

Ame nodded her head, readjusting herself slightly so her head was resting on her arms instead of the pillow. The softness combined with the massage was sending her to sleep, and she didn't want to doze off just yet.

Envy brushed the hair away from her neck and told her to turn her head so her chin was on her hands. Doing as asked, Ame waited patiently, eyes half closed in her content-filled state, deciding that the voice in the back of her head reprimanding her for letting her guard down in front of Envy could go jump off a bridge. Envy started up where he had left off in between her shoulder blades and traveled upward at a steady pace.

The instant his fingers touched her neck it was like someone was dragging all the tension from her body. Whether it was his nails running along the top of her spine, the heels of his hands pressing into the sides of her neck of the way his fingers kneaded just so along her throat, Ame wasn't sure, maybe it was all of them, but it was the most awesome thing she had ever felt. She couldn't help the soft mewl that left her throat as he continued, she'd deny it later, she knew, but at the moment she just couldn't bring herself to really care.

The massage on her neck lasted a good three minutes before Envy seemed to deem it done and let go, clapping his hands three times before grinning down at Ame.

"Better?" he asked in an expectant voice.

For a minute, Ame had no idea what he was talking about until she realized that her headache was completely and totally gone.

"How did you DO that?"

Envy laughed at her incredulous mutter, flopping down onto the bed and resting back on his arms.

"Lust gets really tense sometimes, especially when guys piss her off, so she has me give her massages a lot. And besides, it's easier to get information from someone in a lulled sense of relaxation right?"

Ame sat up on her elbows, rolling her eyes incredulously.

"Sure Envy. I won't think about how many old men you've done that to."

"HEY!"

She smiled softly.

"But thanks. I feel a lot better now."

Ame tried desperately to beat down the voice in her head saying that this was the first time she'd properly smiled at Envy. So what if she smiled at him? She smiled a lot! …Not.

To her surprise, Envy smiled back at her.

"No problem."

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute, just basking in the friendship that seemed to be cropping up between them at increasing rates. Envy, for his part, was perfectly content to form a friendship with Ame, he didn't mind. Hell, if Edward hadn't been constantly trying to screw over their plans, he would have been plenty happy to form a friendship with him too! Ame though was still having an entire mental argument over this that seemed to be going on between her sensible voice (See? It DID crawl out of the pit.) and the voice that seemed to like Envy just a touch too much. In case you're wondering, the Team Envy voice was winning by a mile.

"Do you know what that whole thing in the library was about?"

Envy question came out of the blue and startled Ame. She looked up at her companion, still resting on her elbows, eyes curious.

"What thing?"

"Where he wouldn't let me get that top shelf book."

Ame thought back and frowned slightly, looking up at the ceiling pensively.

"Hm…Yeah. That was weird." she muttered. "It wasn't like you were too short to reach or anything, and the ladder wasn't weak. There was no reason you couldn't get the book yourself."

Envy nodded his head, also looking up at the ceiling.

"Which means…there was something up there he didn't want me to see…"

They were each silent for a few minutes, thinking of what he could possibly be hiding, until Ame remembered something.

The young kitsune girl had a knack for picking out small details often not seen by her fellows, things often deemed unimportant. In this case, the talent worked towards her benefit, not for the first time, but certainly at a good time.

"When I was grabbing that book about King Arthur," she began, and Envy's eyes turned to her. "There was this book on the top shelf that caught my attention, it looked out of place. It was this leather bound book…Well, looked more like a notebook, a journal, and it was hidden between these huge volumes so it looked kinda small."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Now that I think about it, it was pretty close to the book you wanted."

Envy hummed in thought.

"It must have been behind a bigger book, I couldn't see it." he admitted. "But if I had to guess, I'd say that would be it."

Ame nodded her head in agreement.

"And another piece of the puzzle." she muttered, slightly resentful. "Gods, why can't things just make SENSE for once?"

Envy laughed.

"Because what would be the fun in that?"

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** LOOKIT DAT FILLER.


	9. Chapter Eight

The Ball Starts Rolling

The next morning dawned bright, but gray and moist, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it would rain later on. Waking up in their now familiar curled position, the pair dressed in silence and left their room in complete quiet. It wasn't an awkward or angry quiet, more a comfortable and easy quiet without much purpose. It was early and there wasn't a lot to say, so they stayed silent.

Breakfast with Rydel went by without consequence, and to Ame's satisfaction, her headache had yet to return. When Rydel announced that he once more had business to attend to however, Ame's eyes lit up (thankfully she was looking down at her plate at the time) and she decided to do something bold.

It didn't necessarily fit in character, but that was okay, she didn't really care at the moment.

"Rydel?" she asked in a tentative voice.

Both Envy and Rydel stopped talking at once, surprised that the youngest present had spoken. Envy turned to her, a confused expression on his face before Ame continued, ignoring her "sister" entirely.

"Yes Ame?" he asked kindly, but Ame couldn't help feeling it was fake when she stared into those lifeless eyes.

"I was wondering if Eri and I could go riding again? I did so enjoy it when we did last time…"

She wasn't lying, riding Stardust had been great fun, and she knew Envy had liked Blackjack from how tender he had been with him.

Rydel frowned worriedly.

"Will you be able to handle them yourselves?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure we'll be able to!" Ame chirped pleasantly. Gah. Who knew fake happiness freakin' hurt?(1) "Please?"

Puppy eyes however, Ame was skilled with. THOSE she could do easily and Envy seemed shocked to see it. Rydel however, visibly melted at the sight of her slightly pouted bottom lip and widened eyes.

"Of course you can. Where would you like to ride?"

"The woods, if that would be alright." she said quickly. "I wanted to show them to Eri, but with her heart condition I was worried she couldn't walk all that way."

Envy, though still confused, seemed to be catching on now, and when Rydel asked;

"Is that alright with you Eri?"

He instantly nodded with a charming smile.

"I'd really like that." he chirped, voice and octave or two higher than natural.

Rydel nodded, almost to himself.

"Alright then, it's settled. You two can go riding together today after breakfast, Richard will take you down to the stables, or can you find them yourselves?"

"We can find the way."

Breakfast finished pretty normally, Ame's head ducking every time Rydel looked at her, pretending to be embarrassed to have spoken out so much. That fit with her character at the least and Envy played along without question, much to her relief. She had been afraid that the other wouldn't understand what she was doing, but she had been wrong apparently. Or at the least he had enough sense not to ask anything now.

Rydel departed for whatever he was doing a few minutes after the dishes were cleared, leaving Ame to rise and start back to their room, Envy following her lead.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" he muttered to her as they made their way down the hall to their room.

"The last time those trucks showed up was on a day Rydel wasn't here." she muttered back. "Logically speaking, they should be back today then."

"Great, but WHY the riding…?"

She sent him a withering glance.

"BECAUSE Eri dearest," she said in a sugary voice. "You have a HEART CONDITION, remember?"

Envy's glower was enough to send her snickering for the next five minutes until they reached the door to their room and they became all business again. They changed into jeans (Ame had been in cotton pants, Envy had been in khaki shorts) and pulled on their respective coats before leaving for the stables.

The pair walked close together, Ame using the mental excuse that it felt safer like that (the sheer fact that she was saying that made her feel like she was losing her sanity), while Envy didn't even bother denying that he just preferred being close to Ame. He, unlike his companion, had given up on trying to hate her a long time ago. It wasn't really working out for him in the long run, he just sort of rolled with the punches and allowed himself to like the kitsune.

It wasn't hurting anyone, really, he just avoided fighting her to the best of his ability and when they did fight, he put on as much of an act of disliking her as possible. He'd kill her if he had to, if Father so ordered, but if it wasn't necessary for them to hurt one another, he'd rather not. A) Because getting hurt was painful, and Envy did not like pain in the least bit, and B) because he found her interesting, and he liked her.

That was Envy's curious nature getting the better of him again. But what did he care? There were very few people in this world he actually even remotely tolerated let alone liked. Ame was one of choice few who always seemed able to pique his interest. Her and Fullmetal. Fullmetal because his hotheadedness never ceased to amuse him, and he was always coming up with crazy new battle tactics that usually kept him entertained, and Ame because, well, she was Ame. She was an enigma among enigmas.

The trip to the stables wasn't very interesting save for a few birds deciding to dive bomb Envy(2), causing him to shriek and nearly fall backward if Ame hadn't grabbed his hand. They both laughed once the birds were done trying to kill them, thinking of the sheer stupidity of what had just happened. A homunculi and a kitsune, running from BIRDS, birds no bigger than perhaps a bread roll no less.

Thank god no one else was around to see such a humiliating thing.

Daschle and Reggie met them inside, telling them that the main house had called ahead, though Reggie asked what had taken them.

When Envy sheepishly told them about their bird encounter, the older men just laughed.

"Yeah, them sparrows can get pretty rowdy when they wanna." Daschle said with a bark of laughter. "Didn't getcha did they?"

"Nah." Envy said with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine, they just freaked me out."

It wasn't a lie either, they HAD freaked Envy out. YOU try getting a small, round and at one end very sharp creature diving straight at your face. It's sort of startling to say the least.

After the short session of chuckles was through, Envy darted off to Blackjack's stall, completely ignoring Reggie's offer to let him try another horse. He liked Blackjack, and the horse liked him too, which was nice. Most larger animals were skittish around Envy, maybe because they could tell he wasn't human, or maybe because he just didn't seem like such a nice person.

Truth be told, Envy really liked animals, liked them a lot more than he liked people. People were confusing and irritating, most of them made him want to rip his hair out or stab them a couple times. They either hated him or ignored him, and he did NOT like being ignored, or hated, actually. But animals were easy to understand, and they tended to like Envy, mostly because Envy liked them. He'd been known to sit in alleyways, waiting for Lust to return from business, and play with the local strays.

Cats, dogs, birds, and even a few rabbits once or twice, they were small, cute, fluffy and unless they bit, they didn't cause him pain. That, and they were more than happy to just let him sit there and pet them, no questions asked. Secretly, Envy was a very affectionate person, or more correctly, he liked to show his affection to others and gain affection in return. Affection was good, affection didn't hurt.

Blackjack's eyes lit up happily when he saw his rider, whinnying happily and ducking his head to nudge Envy's shoulder. Envy smiled despite himself and rubbed the beast's neck gently, fingers being met by tough muscle and soft hair.

"Hey there Black." he cooed. "Didja miss me already?"

Blackjack whinnied again, pawing at the floor as an answer and Envy laughed, forgetting everything around him in favor of paying attention to the new beast he had found a friend in.

It was nice to feel liked.

Ame was on the other side of the stables, watching Envy and his horse, thoughts wandering. Envy liked animals, she had deduced this easily enough. He seemed to prefer them to actual people and Ame could relate, animals were far kinder on most occasions.

Blackjack in particular, she noted, Envy seemed to adore. The homunculi wasted no time in bringing him out of his stall to one of the more open areas of the stables to hose him down and them groom him like he'd been doing it all his life. Reggie claimed that they were naturals before he left to go and check on the rest of the horses that were apparently out to graze.

This left Ame and Envy alone with the two horses in the stables, and Stardust didn't seem too happy about being ignored. She leaded over her stall door and tugged the collar of Ame's coat to get her attention, which was effective. The young kitsune tore her eyes away from Envy's back and instead turned to smile at Stardust.

The horse snorted as if to say "About time!", but accepted the rub on her muzzle from her young rider, dipping her head so Ame didn't have to stand on her tiptoes.

Envy glanced over his shoulder, pausing in his rubdown of Blackjack to watch Ame with her own horse. She was smiling softly, pulling out sugar cubes she had snuck from breakfast from her pockets and giving them to the silver horse beside her. Envy decided then and there that he really liked Ame's smile, and he liked it better when she was smiling than when she wasn't.

When Ame wasn't smiling she always looked too mature, grown up and just generally not her age. And when in some cases this was a good thing, Envy preferred it when she looked more at ease and carefree and happy, like when she was smiling.

He would have watched her longer as she opened the stall door to duck inside and start to treat her own horse, but Blackjack didn't like the long pause in his rubdown and whinnied impatiently.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said quickly, turning back to the black horse and once more losing himself in his task.

It was another hour before the two spoke again or left the stables, though they didn't mind. Daschle and Reggie came back in once or twice, but for the most part they were left to care for their horses on their own, which was fine by them. And really, they had sort of claimed the two as their own, despite what others might try to argue at a later date. Ame had found plaques made of chalkboard material in the horse's stalls and, taking a piece of chalk she found on the stable floor, wrote her name on one and Eri's on the other before putting them in the kind of figured they were at least entitled to the horses that liked them, right?

They left the stables at around ten or eleven, and Ame wasted no time in directing them towards the forest and then towards the path she had taken to reach the trucks. It was around the same time, give or take an hour, that she had seen them the first time, so she wasn't too concerned about them being there or not. Either way, she'd show him the path at least and they could go back if necessary.

Once they were at the path where she had met the foxes, Ame paused and looked around. She nibbled her bottom lip in thought, trying to figure the best way to do this. She basically remembered the way to the road, sort of, but it would hard going, like this. Not that the horses couldn't handle the terrain, more to the fact that she had been walking last time, and things looked a bit different from this high up.

Just as Ame was about to suggest they dismount and continue on foot, there was a bark from the area around her horse's feet. Envy looked confused, but Ame instantly told him to keep Blackjack still, then murmured to Stardust no to move too much. She slipped from her saddle and down to the ground, and was greeted by two little foxes. Aynae and his older sister.

"Aynae!" she all but purred, dropping to her knees to put the small fox kit. "Are you here to show us the way back little one?"

As if in answer he barked again and the heads of his four other siblings popped up at varying intervals along the unseen path to the road. His mother was sitting on top of a rock some fifteen yards along the path, tail around her paws, awaiting them with measured calm. She seemed a little wary of Envy, but other than that indifferent to their presence for the most part.

"Are those the foxes you were telling me about…?" he asked curiously from his saddle, looking down at the older sister who was inspecting his shoes.

"Yeah, these are them. I think they're going to show us the way to the trucks."

She looked down at Aynae again, petting his little head.

"Is that it Aynae? You want us to follow you back to those trucks?"

Aynae barked excitedly and hopped in a circle, spinning his small body.

"In that case, let me get back on Stardust, then we'll follow you okay?"

Aynae barked his approval of this plan and sat himself at Stardust's front hooves, his sister already in a similar position before Blackjack. Ame got back on her mount and patted Stardust's neck, sure that the horse had heard their conversation and knew what to do. Animals were a lot smarter than most gave them due credit for, horses in particular. There was no doubt in Ame's mind that both Blackjack and Stardust were well aware of what they were meant to do in this situation.

As soon as Ame was back in the saddle in fact, Stardust pawed once, then Ayane took off with his siblings, and the horses followed without command. Once they passed the foxes' mother, she hopped down from her perch and joined her kits, nipping at the hind legs of those who lagged behind slightly. The two larger animals were highly careful never to step on one of the foxes, adult or kit, pausing sometimes just to be sure they wouldn't hurt them.

Envy seemed genuinely surprised by how the horses had begun moving without command.

"I didn't know they were so smart." he said honestly. "I knew they were smart, but not THIS smart."

Ame quirked a small smile.

"People usually think so. Animals have startling minds when you really get to know them. And usually, animals know the secrets of everyone they've come into contact with. They know all the stories of the world back to front."

"I believe it." he murmured, unconsciously petting at Blackjack's mane.

The ride to the road wasn't so bad, it was actually kind of fun, and Envy seemed to be growing rather fond of the little foxes, which was great by Ame. They spoke little, at first because there was nothing really to say, then because the road was closer and they wouldn't risk being heard, even from such a distance. The horses for their part, were actually quite silent as they moved, and whether it was because that was just how they moved, or because they understood that silence was imperative, neither rider knew, but they were thankful.

Aynae paused about ten yards from where Ame was sure the road was, barking twice and sitting down at the foot of Stardust's hooves, staring up at them. Envy got the message first and slipped from Blackjack's saddle, looping his reigns twice around a tree limb and murmuring not to leave and please be quiet. Ame followed suit in a similar manner, smiling when Stardust snorted and butted her shoulder gently, as if to say; "And why would I leave or give you up?"

Once the horses were tethered and stilled into silence, Ame began following the retreating form of Aynae towards the road, beckoning for Envy to come along. Neither spoke again until they were standing in the clump of trees just before the road and Ame murmured;

"I think I hear the trucks, keep low and quiet okay?"

Envy nodded once and they slunk through the trees and into the underbrush of the other side.

Lo and behold, there the trucks were, rumbling along, engines rumbling, jostling slightly, whether from the bumpy road or their cargo, Ame wasn't sure. Beside her, Envy's expression had grown completely serious and he was all business again, eyes tracing the passing trucks like Edward traced the outlines of arrays he was studying.

Ame noticed, absently and out of the blue, that Envy liked to study things, or at least, new things. New people, new places, new objects, he enjoyed studying them and memorizing them. It was one of those quirky traits Ame was only now noticing and she found it sort of…endearing, his constant curiosity.

Envy looked ready to ask a question and Ame held up a hand, putting a finger to her lips. A tremor raced through the ground, similar to the one she had felt last time, and then, out of the blue, a huge, echoing roar. It was louder this time, or maybe they were just closer, she wasn't sure, but the sound was louder, so much louder. If she was on to show fear, Ame would have been wide eyed and shaking, but instead she held her ground.

To her shock, Envy shot back a good yard or so, crouched down, as if ready to dart away at any second. He reminded her of a scared animal, most specifically a cat, scared of a loud noise and hiding beneath the bed, or the chest of drawers. If she hadn't been focusing on the armored trucks, she would have thought it was cute, but she was paying more attention to the shaking vehicles now.

The things continued passing in a seemingly never ending stream of gray steel and black rubber, not for the first time, she wished she were alone on this mission. If Envy wasn't with her, she would have slipped away from the underbrush and slipped under one of those trucks to see where they were going. But since he WAS with her, she couldn't very well just do reckless things, else he take the brunt of the action.

*Greeeeat…Now I'm worrying about him. Lovely.* she griped.

Ame nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt breath tickling her ear, and she was very glad that Envy had grabbed her wrists, because she was sure she would have hit him if he didn't.

"Let's get out of here." Envy whispered to her softly, chin almost resting on her shoulder. "I've seen what I need to see."

Ame nodded once and, with Envy still behind her, rose to her feet. They departed, walking backwards instead of turning their backs on the trucks, as if they would break open at any minute. She knew it was ludicrous, but she couldn't help feeling like Envy was being protective of her. Ame tried to tell herself that he wasn't, and it didn't matter, but Envy's hands were still around her wrists and his grip wasn't harsh, like he was trying to restrain her, but cautious, as if he wanted to be sure he could grab her and flee at any minute.

Ame tried to ignore the voice cooing how sweet that was, because she certainly wasn't agreeing, no way.

The instant the trucks were out of eyesight, Envy darted, hand still wrapped around her right wrist so she had no choice but to sprint with him. He said nothing, just wordlessly rushed them back to their horses, never letting Ame go until she had a foot in Stardust's stirrup. He himself all but leapt into his saddle, leaning over to unloop the reigns from around the tree branch he had attached them to.

The moment the horses were free however, the foxes took off in the opposite direction, leaping through the underbrush in long swift strides. As if the horses were following some unspoken order they shot after them, always keeping a foot behind so as not to trample any of the little ones. To Ame's shock, they never so much as snorted or whinnied, as if they knew how dangerous that would be here.

*We picked the right horses.* she thought affectionately.

If Envy had something on his mind, he didn't say it aloud, at least not while they were riding, even when they had put the trucks a good mile or so behind them. Ame allowed this, for a reason unknown to her, just watching the forest around them, holding the reigns and thinking for herself. There wasn't a lot to think about, so she just let her mind wander a bit, but that didn't really get her anywhere either.

In the end, Ame just stared ahead, watching the family of foxes as they dashed through the forestry.

One of them barked, quick and clipped, and the horses slowed their pace till it was a brisk walk instead of a near-gallop. At this, the two riders did exchange a look, and both were thinking just about the same thing. Animals were a lot smarter than people gave them credit for, and they were good at working together when necessary.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Ame asked quietly, not really curious but wanting something to fill the empty silence.

Envy shrugged his shoulders but didn't verbally respond and Ame shut her mouth again. Whatever Envy was thinking, it was keeping him quiet for once, and so, she would leave him once more to his thoughts.

The horses finally came to a halt inside a small clearing, filled only with a pond and what people in Ame's home country called a "faerie tree". A huge old gnarled thing that had definitely seen better days, but for some reason still held a majestic beauty about it, totally unrivaled by any tree around it. To the right of the faerie tree, Ame noticed a lump of earth that only looked slightly out of place and she blinked before realizing that it was the foxes' den.

"They brought us to their home." she said softly. "Foxes rarely do that…ever…"

Envy quirked a small smile.

"Guess they trust us."

He dismounted and went about pulling off Blackjack's harness and bit, then his saddle, laying them out over rocks and branches carefully. Ame followed suit, running her fingers through Stardust's silky mane, making the mare gently nuzzle her shoulder. When she went to pull off her saddle though, Envy beat her too it, hoisting it easily from the horse's back. Instead of arguing over the fact that she could have done it herself, Ame stayed quiet. The saddle was heavy and they both knew it, and while she could have done it herself with some difficulty, Envy doing it for her was almost…sweet.

That was twice in the last fifteen minutes Ame had thought Envy sweet. If she wasn't losing her mind, she wasn't quite sure WHAT was going on.

Once they were fully free of all riding gear, Blackjack shook his head, starch white mane flipping back and forth before making his way to the pond to drink, Stardust following him. Envy on the other hand, all but ripped off his coat and threw it down before walking a few feet and collapsing on the ground, staring up at the sky. Ame knew he couldn't really feel the icy chill in the air, not the same way she did, or if he did he didn't care enough to leave his coat on. She walked over and sat down beside him in a cross legged position, also looking up at the sky. It was still steely gray and it looked like it could dump its contents on them at any given moment. Ame wouldn't have minded, she liked the rain, she wasn't so sure about Envy though.

"What were you thinking about?" Ame finally asked, still watching the sky.

"Those trucks. And that road." he sighed. "It's a nicely organized operation, I'll give it that much, even I'm not sure what's in those things."

"Chimera." Ame answered in slight confusion. "Hadn't we established this?"

Envy shook his head slowly.

"We've transported chimera before. Dangerous ones, mind you, worse than your military has ever dealt with, let me tell you. We've NEVER used THAT much armoring before. Whatever he's keeping in those things, it's fucking dangerous, and it's no chimera."

Ame felt her heart drop into her stomach. She had kind of been hoping, even though it wasn't likely, that Rydel was just running some black market chimera syndicate or something of the sort. Nothing unusual, nothing dangerous and nothing worth worrying about or sticking around for, but apparently not.

"Wonderful." she muttered. "Now we've just got another mystery on our hands."

Envy sighed softly in agreement and then they both fell silent.

They sat there, silently, for a good twenty minutes. Envy, eyes closed, either sleeping or thinking, Ame staring up at the sky as if it held the answers to all. For all she knew, it might, and she just couldn't see them, who knew?

The fox mother had caught her kits a rabbit and they were currently eating their fill, the horses grazing beside them, like large, protective guards. The animals seemed entirely unperturbed that there were two…well, not humans, but two non-animals in their midst. In fact the foxes seemed almost content with the way Ame would every now and again glance over at them.

Once one of the kits had finished eating, it the was the sister who had originally led Envy, she licked her chops and trotted over to Envy. The homunculi peeked an eye open as the fox pawed at his arm expectantly. He smiled lightly and pulled one arm from behind his head to poke her nose.

"And what do YOU want?"

She nipped at his finger then bounced away, tail flicking from side to side.

"To play, apparently." Ame said with a small smile of her own.

Envy chuckled and sat up on his elbows, clicking his tongue. The fox hopped back over and onto his chest, nipping at his nose before bouncing off again. By this time her siblings were finishing their meal and they too joined in the fun of hopping around and teasing Envy. Ame was pleased to see that really, Envy didn't seem to mind batting at the kits and allowing them to jump onto his chest.

Aynae alone came over to Ame and curled up in her lap, growling happily and nudging at her abdomen. Smiling again, Ame raised a hand to pet at the small fox's spine gently, soothing him into sleep within minutes. Unbeknownst to her, Envy had been watching her do this, expression unreadable.

"You'd make a good mother."

Ame nearly jumped out of her skin at Envy's random, and very seriously said, admission.

"Y-It-WHAT?" she bit out, flustered.

"You'd make a good mother." he repeated in the same honest tone. "You're really good at taking care of people, when you want to."

Ame stared at him, utterly baffled.

"You're so…WHAT?"

Her confusion was getting the best of her speech, but she didn't really care, she was too weirded out by what he was saying.

"Well, you're what a mother should be, you know? Caring, calm, stern but understanding, kind, and you're a good teacher too." he cackled half heartedly. "I mean, not that I would know, I don't have a mother. But that seems to me what a mother should be like."

Ame was silent a moment, reflected on what Envy had said, both things. The first on its own was enough to puzzle her, it wasn't something she had particularly anticipated hearing from him. Ame had never really thought about it, being a mother that is. She had been too engrossed in her life at large (fight bad guys, run from Scar, PAPERWORK, philosophers stone, Mustang, Ed, fight bad guys, run from Scar, repeat) that she'd never taken the time to think of the future.

Now she paused and thought forward, the image of different children, faceless and genderless playing around in her head. She wouldn't mind being a parent, if she lived that long anyway. It seemed like a nice idea, children, their father beside her, having a family. But, hell, who knew, right?

Ame leaned back so she was resting on the palms of her hands, Aynae still in her lap, staring at the sky again.

"I wouldn't know either."

She could feel Envy's gaze on her and she continued without prompting.

"About the whole mother thing. My parents were…" she swallowed hard. Even now she had a hard time saying "murdered". "They died when I was almost three. I don't remember them at all."

Envy didn't say or do anything to provoke anything more from her, but he did bark out a laugh that sounded a little strained.

"Well hey, there's something else we have in common then eh? Always takin' care of ourselves!"

Ame allowed herself to quirk a small smile.

"True enough."

They were silent again, this time a slight awkward tinge hanging in the air like mist. Ame didn't like the awkwardness between them, it had managed to go away for a long while and now it was back all she could think of was how IRRITATING it was. Which was…sort of weird, due mostly to the fact that she'd only ever experienced awkward silences around Envy before, with good reason. Funny what time alone with a person can do to you.

"Hey, Ame?"

"Yes?"

Envy looked over at her again.

"Can you tell me about being a kitsune?"

Ame blinked in mild surprise, turning her eyes from the sky momentarily to look at her companion.

"What about it do you want to know?"

Envy shrugged slightly.

"What's it like? How do people treat you? What are you powers? Where do they come from? I don't know, anything I guess."

Ame paused, debating mildly whether she should really discuss this with Envy. Ultimately, she decided that Envy had shown himself not to attempt any harm towards her at this time, and in the future if he would use it against her, so be in. She could deal with the consequences when the time came.

"Well, for the second question, treatment really varies. For those who don't know who or what I am, well, they treat me like everyone else. As if I was just a mildly freakish human, which is better then a monster I guess." she locked eyes with Envy and she could have sworn she saw a flash of something akin to pain there

Ame wanted to reach out to him then, but instead, just continued before she lost her nerve.

"But when people know who or what I am, well, then things get a lot rockier. Some are just disgusted, or fearful of me, or they hate me or something else. But others, others are violent and angry and try to hurt me. Other yokai either respect me or try to kill me, or worse. A lot of people seem under the impression that I'm well liked, but I only have a few friends. Roy, Ed, Al, Winry, Riza, Havoc, Ling, Lan Fan… That's about it."

She rubbed hand through her hair with a small sigh.

"As for what my powers are and where they come from, well, the second is easier to answer. My powers come from within myself, they're an incarnation of what energies are inside me, they change for every person and yokai. Just like no two people's alchemy is the same, neither is any two yokai's, even those of elemental races." she raised her hand and reached it up towards the sky, staring at the back pensively. "I don't know why I can control the elements, and I don't know the extent of my powers. I know right now I can control fire, water, earth and air, but an old prophet once told me I was meant to know ALL elements. That alone is a scary thought, trust me. No one should have that much power, not even the last kitsune."

Envy seemed startled to hear her say that, but didn't comment on it and just listened to her talking. He had expected, when he had been told all those months (was it REALLY almost a year now?) ago that the last kitsune not only lived, but controlled the flippin' ELEMENTS, that she would be proud of it. Snide, stuck up, using every opportunity that came under her hands to manipulate people with her astounding abilities.

But really, Ame seemed highly reluctant to use her powers, and she didn't seem proud of them at all. In fact she seemed really quite, well, not ashamed of them, but distanced from them, like she was keeping them at arm's length. Even when she didn't need to, when she could get away with it, Ame always tried to use alchemy instead. Envy KNEW it was more convenient to use her natural born abilities, it had to be, so he was confused as to why she DIDN'T.

What reason could there possibly be? If HE could control the elements, well fuck, he'd be using them left and right without pause. He'd be SO powerful it wouldn't even be funny, and thus, he was confused.

Why didn't she just kick everyone's ass with her powers….?

"Because they're dangerous."

Envy nearly jumped out of his skin. Had he said that aloud?

"I can control my powers, but to a point at best. I can connect with each element and harness its power, but only as much as my body can handle. If I go any farther, I would just hurt myself, and most likely the ones around me." she suddenly looked sullen and distant. "And even when I do harness my powers, sometimes they get out of control on me. Or on my friends."

Envy watched her, finally asking;

"Have you ever…hurt Edward before?"

He disregarded that he called him Edward instead of "Fullmetal".

Ame's expression darkened once more.

"Yes." she said gravely. "I almost put him in the hospital."

Envy let out a small breath.

"What…what happened?"

Ame shook her head slightly, brow furrowing.

"Some of my fire got out of control on me. I got distracted and it got loose, if Ed hadn't thrown that wall up he'd have some serious burns."

"Serious like get better serious or serious like…"

"Like permanently disfigured serious."

Envy winced in sympathy.

"Well, he's not disfigured so it's all okay right?"

"Not really."

Ame fell back so she too was laying on her back on the grass.

"That was two years ago, I was TWELVE. I'm fourteen now and if I get distracted, I could STILL harm someone fighting with me." she clenched her fist. "I'm no stronger than I was…"

Without even thinking about it, Envy reached out a hand it, and laid it atop Ame's clenched fist, looking over at her with unreadable eyes. Ame turned her eyes to him, blank and distorted, like she was far away.

"When we fight together, it won't matter if you hit me. I'll just heal instantly." he smiled surprisingly gently. "You'll get proper control soon Ame. Just give it time. It's like alchemy, it take practice."

If there was anything in Ame arguing against the fingers now curled with hers, or that Envy had said "WHEN we fight together" instead of "IF we fight together", she didn't hear it at all. All she did was close her fingers more tightly around his and returned his soft smile. They lay there, hand in hand, just looking at one another, Stardust, Blackjack and the foxes one by one coming to lay around them, locked away from the world, and for a moment, just feeling content.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** I think I'm going to choke on all the fluff.

1- From experience, when you're not used to faking happiness: IT HURTS. PHYSICALLY.

2- Some birds DO dive bomb people. (Again: EXPERIENCE TELLS ALL.)


	10. Chapter Nine

Diary of a Broken Man

"Well at least it didn't storm YESTERDAY."

"Well, yeah, but now Rydel's off doing gods know what and we're stuck inside. FUN."

"Better than out there in the cold Ame."

Ame flopped back on her and Envy's shared bed, staring at the ceiling with a sigh.

"Great, so what now?"

They had come home late the day before, after spending the rest of the afternoon with the animals, talking. Ame didn't even remember half the things they talked ABOUT, they just talked. As if a huge floodgate had just opened and let loose a great typhoon of feeling and understanding. They exchanged stories about their traveling companions, Al's never ending cats, Ed's habit of glaring at cows, Lust's obsession with rabbits, ect. And spoken on any subject that came to mind, even if they had no opinion on it.

It felt GOOD to just talk to Envy, not caring about who or what they were and just understanding one another for a minute. When they had come back to the mansion, the feeling of calm and understanding had not dissipated, much to Ame's glee. In fact, it intensified as their day's experience (sans the trip to the road with the armored trucks) slipped from their tongues as if it were rehearsed and they complimented one another's part of the story with another.

When Rydel seemed satisfied with the story, and after dinner, they retreated to their room to go to sleep. For some reason, when Envy looped an arm around Ame's waist, she wasn't even slightly miffed about it as she fell asleep.

Now of course, it was storming like the world was ending(1) so they were stuck inside, while Rydel was off "working" leaving them to do….well, nothing, as of yet. Envy of course, had gone from excited to bored in less than twenty seconds, and Ame had simply remained bored from the start. It wasn't as if there weren't things to do in the mansion, it's just that most of them were either geared towards adults or teenagers. …And yeah, technically they were teenagers, just not teenagers who acted like teenagers.

"So." Envy asked, letting himself fall backwards onto the bed beside Ame. "What to do."

Just yesterday morning, Ame would have scooted away from Envy as far as she could, but today she just laid there, not minding that his hand was almost touching hers and that their shoulders were practically bumping.

"Was there anything else inside we were supposed to be doing?"

Envy shook his head.

"Our best leads are outside, I think. The tower, that clearing the scope was pointing to, and that road."

Ame sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Fan-freaking-tastic." she mumbled. "So we're stuck inside with nothing to do. I mean," she huffed, looking up at the window. "We can't even go visit Stardust and Blackjack!"

Envy pouted his agreement without words and they lapsed into silence.

The minutes ticked by without activity as each thought over what was supposed to happen today. They couldn't just lose a day doing NOTHING, they didn't have time for that, they needed to get a move on with this mission. They'd already been here, what, a week?

Ame's mind wandered to the places they had been, noticing, with a scowl, that really they hadn't gone too many places with much information. The mansion held no answers, but plenty of useless questions, and the outside world wasn't doing much better by them. What Rydel was doing, he was doing well to cover his tracks. REALLY well.

The most useful information they had gathered was that he was transporting something to himself, not to the outside world. That meant, mainly, that the problem probably resided right here, within the walls of the Arinfield property. Of course, that also meant they were missing something, and that annoyed Ame. She wanted to think that if Edward was here with her, this problem would not exist, but she knew that was a lie. Edward would have had just as much trouble with this whole thing as Envy was having, maybe more.

She sorely wished that the storm wasn't so bad, then she could maybe go visit her horse (yes, somewhere along the road Stardust had become HERS) or the fox family. Somehow, they always calmed her down and let her think clearly. Unfortunately, the storm was bad enough that earlier, when Richard had opened the door to step outside for whatever reason, he had been knocked back on his butt.

Ame may have been able to control the elements, but she was pretty sure even her power over water wouldn't save her in this one.

Nibbling her bottom lip, Ame tried to think of anything that had happened inside that seemed of little consequence at the time, but meant more now. She found nothing through the first five or so days until her mind tapped on one memory impatiently, as if she was supposed to have remembered this right off.

All at once Ame recalled both herself and Envy noticing a strange leather covered book atop the highest shelf in the library, and she puzzled over it.

There had been a whole bookshelf covered in leather, suede and just generally cloth bound books. They all seemed to be journals or original pieces by famous authors, old, usually, which was why they weren't typed up. Yet, the book they'd seen had been far up on a shelf quite a ways away from the other journal-styled books, in fact it was almost hidden behind two larger volumes that looked a great deal more like they belonged on the top shelf. Now, generally one would think that perhaps it was just out of place, but you didn't just "accidentally" place book on the highest shelf where no one is liable to look or go.

"We could always go check out the library again." she said evenly.

"But we've been in there twice now." Envy answered incredulously. "There's nothing there worth mentioning."

"Not yet. But there was that book. The one on the highest shelf."

Envy seemed to consider this before humming his consent.

"Shall we then?"

"After you."

Ame rose from the bed without another word and padded across the floor, snatching up a pair of jeans and a baggy long sleeve black shirt. Behind her, Envy had also grabbed jeans, but accompanied them with a white tank top (muscle shirt, he insisted, but whatever. It was totally a tank top.). They dressed in silence, forsaking the use of socks or shoes in favor of walking around barefoot, walking softly out of their room and to the library, remaining silent.

Somewhere along the way (maybe when Reena said "good morning" to them) their hands conjoined and they just sort of didn't let go afterward. It was another instance where Envy was doing something unnecessary, but this time, Ame was joining in without a hint of disagreement. Whatever had been triggered between them yesterday was allowing itself to remain not only apparent but very much forefront in their minds. Neither could really bring themselves to particularly care though.

The library was as they had left it, and Ame closed and locked the door, then opened the curtains so they could watch the road as well as see the storm. Envy climbed the ladder to reach the top shelf, frowning to himself, pushing along the shelf so the ladder rolled by before reaching his goal. Letting out a small "ah-ha!" of triumph, he pulled the book from where it rested, scurrying back to the ground and leaving the ladder where it was so he could put it back later.

Ame had already sat herself down on the couch, one leg crossed so her ankle rested on her knee, awaiting her companion. Jumping over the couch back, said companion crossed his own legs, leaning lightly against Ame's side and untying the book's leather ties. They both held their breath as they opened the front cover and stared at the first page.

"Diary of Rydel Arinfield…" Envy read aloud. "So this town is named after his family.

"Makes sense." Ame said softly. "They're obviously the richest people around, small towns are usually named after the top families, y'know?"

Envy nodded, then frowned.

"But….What's his journal doing in here?" he asked.

Ame ran a hand along the line of glue binding visible against the cover and first page.

"It's fairly old…Maybe ten or so years?" she frowned with Envy. "But still, shouldn't it be in his room?"

"I'm fairly certain that's where things like this normally go."

Envy shot her a grin.

"Suspicious yet?"

"And bored enough to wonder what Rydel wrote about, yes."

The first half of the book was a fairly simple read, just the things one would expect of a businessman in his twenties at the time. Rydel's family turned out to be a family of traders and importers, bringing in goods from around the world to Amestris. He seemed fairly normal, but kind of awkward, especially around women, and sort of bored with life. His words held the happiness of youth, but also the weariness of a routine existence.

His father had died just before his birth, and his mother had raised him by herself until the day he turned twenty two, at which time she died. He seemed particularly distressed at her death, but no more than an average person would be, and in a matter of months (twenty or so pages later), he was back to normal again. The boredom the storm had brought upon the duo reading the journal was quickly returning and they would have put the book down had Envy not flipped to a page eight years old, from when Rydel was twenty-six.

They paused and read the first line together, before exchanging a look and starting to read through entry with interest.

"_Today, my life has been changed forever._

_I'm sure that seems very much cliché and impractical, I can hardly believe I wrote it, believe me, but it is the truth. Today marks the day that everything in my life alters forever and I could not possibly be happier._

_The day started fairly normally. Richard awoke me at seven, I went off to work at nine, worked till three, then departed for the party Madame Rosetta was holding two towns over. I made it half an hour earlier than I was meant to, but she did not mind in the slightest. Kind old woman, she has been a grandmother to me all these years and I never stop delighting in her company. Always a new story to tell me or touch of gossip to share. How she hears things before anyone else, I don't know, but her methods are sufficient and appreciated._

_The party began at nine, as was designated on the invitation, and I of course, acted the part of the perfect businessman as per usual. Naturally, I was bored out of my skull underneath it all, but really, only Madame Rosetta knew that, and tittered behind her hand every time she caught me staring off into space while someone spoke to me. Really, even the women flirting with me were rather boring, I thought at the least ONE of them would have caught my attention._

_But it was not until around eleven that anything in the slightest bit happened to catch my interest. _

_I was outside, sipping my wine, taking a break from all the noise and chatter inside when someone joined me and a beauteous, lilting voice asked me;_

"_Well aren't you just the sharpest thing."_

_I blinked twice before turning and finding myself staring at the most beautiful creature I have ever seen on this earth. Even my mother, whose beauty I believed rivaled even Aphrodite herself, would pale in comparison to the woman who stood beside me. She had long, flowing hair of blonde so pale it was almost silver in the moonlight, and shining green eyes the color of fresh limes or the newest leaves of spring. Her skin was a soft caramel color and utterly unblemished save one beauty mark beneath her left eye. She was tall, shorter than myself, but a good five foot nine at least and she held all the grace of a swan coupled with the temperament of a loving kitten._

_I was for a moment, utterly lost for words._

"_I…Thank you. I suppose."_

_It was a foolish and useless thing to say, yet I could think of nothing better in her company._

_She laughed, and it was like heaven's gates had opened to me and shown me a true angel. I will never allow that first laugh to leave my mind._

"_Really, you act so stiff Sir…Arinfield, was it? Loosen yourself up a bit! Have fun!"_

_She spoke as if that were what EVERYONE was meant to do._

"_This, unfortunately, is not the kind of gathering for fun." I said with a bemused smile. "I'm afraid I don't know your name, and am, thus, at a disadvantage."_

_She laughed once more and held out a hand to me._

"_Celestine Sheldon." she said kindly. "Let's pretend I don't know your name either, what is it again?"_

_"Rydel Arinfield."_

_We shook hands and I found her skin smoother and softer than fine silk. I wished then to simply pull her into my arms and never let go, but instead, I settled for pressing my lips to her knuckles and complimenting her beauty. She flushed and laughed for a third time, and did not let my hand go again. I was hardly arguing._

_The next hours until well past midnight were spent wiling away the time talking and laughing affectionately with one another. I chanced a bit of flirting with her, and to my sheer joy, she flirted back at me without even a bit of concealment. By the time I was going home, I had already arranged a second meeting for just a week from now, and oh how I cannot await the day._

_I sit here now, at five in the morning, finishing this entry before finally retiring to my bed. Richard will awake me at midday tomorrow and I will take the day off, simply for I do not believe I can focus on anything with Celestine inside my head._

_Oh mother, if you are in heaven now, listening to my words as I write them, take comfort, for your once lonely son is in love."_

Envy and Ame both just sort of stared at the entry for a moment, before turning to face one another.

"Well." Ame said in a mostly even voice. "THAT doesn't sound like the Rydel we know."

"No. That sounds like a lovesick teenager, but that's really not the point." Envy's eyes ran over the last line again. "But seriously, he just met this chick, could he seriously be in love?"

"Weirder things have happened."

Envy shot Ame an incredulous look.

"You believe in love at first sight?"

Ame shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"Sure. I mean, I dunno about humans, but yokai often have soul mates out there somewhere in the world. They don't always end up with or fall in love with them, but they're out there. It's completely possible that a human being could meet their soul mate and fall instantly in love. Again, weirder things have happened."

Envy snorted.

"Name three."

"Alphonse Elric. Hohenheim Elric. Father. You." then, as an afterthought; "Me."

"Oh shut up already."

The next year's worth of entries were of basically nothing but Celestine, accept for one about her father's funeral, and even that seemed to be focused mainly around her. As far as either of the readers could tell, Rydel and Celestine were blissfully, endlessly and impossibly in love. The world around them approved and their friends were congratulatory. There were no jealous would be suitors, no disapproving parents, no one seemed to want to interrupt them in their own little world of happiness.

A year later in the writings, there was another entry that caught Ame's eye this time, and she had Envy stop to read it.

"_Oh happy day, oh joyous day, oh day of light and goodness and all things that can possibly be called happiness! Today my dreams have been achieved and my life made complete and I am now a man with a purpose to uphold!_

_Today, my lovely Celestine, light of my life, has agreed to marry me. She did not even hesitate in her answer when I dropped to one knee before her, did not even pause as I pulled forth the ring. It was a simple gold band, she abhors me spending money on her, though I have plenty to spend. And every penny would quite willingly go to her if she would so allow it._

_She kissed me deeply as an answer to my proclamation, crying tears of joy as I was. I think Madame Rosetta's eyes almost bugged out of her head at the sight before she caught sight of the ring now securely on my true love's finger. She would not stop congratulating us, and I could not bring myself to stop her._

_My heart was lighter than it has been in years, fluttering up high into the heavens and away as if to sing the news to my mother, may she rest in peace. I wish only that she were here to see us, my love and I, just as I wish dear Celestine's kind father had lived to see her marry. But they are up in heaven, watching us together, aren't they? They see our happiness, they know it to be true love that has touched us here._

_Oh my friends are going to be all a dither when I tell them the news. Only half of them are married, and their love nowhere near as pure as mine has been with Celestine. It is not that I wish them to be jealous, I only wish them to see our happiness in full and be in awe._

_Ah me, is that wishing jealousy upon them? I believe it is._

_If it is envy that comes to them, then so be it. Let them envy us to their hearts content, as long as they do not act upon their lust I will not judge them for it. Is that wrong of my to say? Oh but it is, but I can't bring myself to care._

_I'm far too happy for that."_

Envy rubbed a hand through his hair with a frown.

"This is WEIRD." he muttered. "This doesn't sound like Rydel at ALL. This is a totally different PERSON."

"Yes." Ame agreed gravely. "But if this is Rydel, as we know it is, then where's Celestine?"

Envy fell silent at this and he stared at Ame for a long moment, before turning back to the book and flipping through the pages.

"Let's find out."

_"We are married. _

_Tied together for all eternity by the holy church and laws of god. I do not regret this decision, I do not wish it gone, oh how I wish it will NEVER break in fact. Our love could last forever, I know it shall, and we shall be together on earth and then once more in heaven. Out time will never end._

_Celestine was gorgeous in her dress. White silk and the finest lace, a veil of pure sheer white and bright red peonies in her hair. I have never seen her so beautiful as I did then, the bouquet of roses in her hands, the train flowing out behind her as she walked towards me down the aisle._

_I will not waste time writing any more after this but to say that I have never been happier than I am now. While Celestine keeps her room on the fourth floor with the view out over the forest, she will be sleeping with me from now on. Last night was the first I held her and now I shall never let go."_

"So it was HER room…" Ame murmured, pointing out the obvious, but feeling it needed to be said.

"The nursery though…"

Envy and Ame exchanged another look, this time grim. The more they read, the less and less likely a happy ending seemed to be.

Flipping through the next few pages, Envy found, really, nothing of consequence, but he did catch sight of a few mentions of children. Not of having them, but of wanting them, both Rydel and Celestine apparently LOVED children and couldn't wait to start a family.

Ame could feel her heart dropping into her stomach more and more with each passing mention, because if there was one thing she knew, it was that that nursery had NEVER been lived in. There had never been a family. Something had gone wrong.

Suddenly, Envy paused when he realized that he was flipping through blank pages. There was nothing for the last fifty or so pages of the notebook. He flipped slowly back to the last entry and together, Ame and he stared at it.

The writing was shaky and scratchy, not the beautiful penmanship of earlier entries, the inky was splotchy and there were little dots where tears had fallen. Ame felt her heart all but stop in her chest as she leaned over Envy's shoulder once more to read what had happened six years ago.

"_Today my heart has been ripped from my body. My soul shattered. My will to live destroyed and my sanity dismembered. _

_All I have hoped and dreamed for is gone, my life is ruined, my faith in my country and the fairness and goodness of God lost. Never again shall I smile for true. Never again shall I laugh with honesty. Never again will I let anyone touch my heart._

_They claimed, our government, our leaders, those rich men who sit atop the foundations of our society, that the war was over. They claimed that the heathens were all either dead or scattered to the winds, that we were now safe from those calling themselves Ishbalans. The money I put into this war and the protection of Amestris was supposedly well used, to bring about things like the State Alchemist program, and bring in the full potential of our armies._

_Oh but they lied. They lied through their rancid teeth to us all and while most will live in the delusion that they were told the truth, I shall not. I shall know for true how poisonous their lies were, how painful the wounds they cut truly were. _

_I once stood before God a whole and happy man with the interests of his people, his town, his country, all on the seams of my sleeves. I was prepared to throw away everything to protect this great place called Amestris and all of its in habitants but now I cannot even bear to look at our flag. Now I cannot bear to even leave my room and see another human face, for no face will ever be the one I wish for._

_Never again._

_I shall never again see my darling Celestine, I shall never again hold her and kiss her and love her. And it is all the fault of those lying bastards who call themselves our government._

_They said that the East was a safe place to be now, that no one would or should fear anymore destruction in that area and I believed them. I believed them and so I allowed Celestine her leave to go visit her father's grave in the far East town where he grew up and was buried. Oh what a fool I was, what I would not give to turn back the hands of time and redo that whole wretched day._

_For they said it was safe. That it was no longer a war zone._

_And they lied, for today, TODAY, I received a letter from the government and I knew what it had to be before I even opened it. It had their seal and it held the same aura as the letter that Reena received just months ago informing her that her brother was lost in the war effort. _

_I could not believe it, I refused to believe it, yet I sat there in my study and with trembling fingers opened the letter to read what it said._

_The first line read only "We wish to give you our most sincere condolences"._

_I dropped the letter and began to cry then._

_My Celestine, my beautiful wife, the light of my life, soul and being, was gone. She was dead. I had allowed her to go visit her father and she was DEAD. _

_How could this have happened to me? Was I not a devout man? Was I not a loving husband to almost a fault? Was I not a pure citizen, a funder of the government and a pivot of the masses? What had I done to the deserve this that God had given me, TAKEN from me?_

_I finally picked up the letter again some minutes letter to finish it, and oh how I now wish I had simply thrown it into the fire to be forever lost. I could have lived, perhaps, with the knowledge that my Celestine died in the crossfire between Ishbalan rebels and Amestrian soldiers, but what I read next has cost me what of my heart was left._

_As I write this now, I feel the hole where I my heart was slowly growing larger and eating away at me._

_My Celestine, she…she was pregnant._

_Pregnant with our first child. With the child whom would finally live in that room we made just a month after our marriage. The child who we had always wanted. The child who would have been the sole conqueror of BOTH our lives._

_The soldiers had not just stolen my wife they had stolen my firstborn from me. They had stolen EVERYTHING from me._

_I fear there is nothing left in this world for me. Nothing left for me to trust or believe in, nothing for me to love. All that I was is gone and broken into pieces on the ground at my feet. I am a broken man._

_Face me no more as a creature of earth but as a cursed and wretched monster of hell and depravity. I wish not to touch the feet of God and pray at his churches any longer, I wish now only to fall into the arms of blackness and never awaken._

_All is lost to me, I have no purpose to go on._

_Oh Celestine, my beautiful Celestine, bearer of my love, carrier of our first child, how I love thee still, even though you will now rest in the ground never to rise again. Oh faceless child whom I would have loved and cared for more than all else in this earth, know that I would have cherished you beyond all others and done only the best for you._

_Both of you, please await me in heaven, I will come to you one day…"_

Here the entry simply stopped.

Somewhere during the reading, Ame had drawn her knees up to her chest and hugged them against her as if for support, and Envy had done the same, resting the book upon his. They were huddled close to one another now, sides pressed as close as humanly possible to one another and neither cared at all. They both stared at the last entry in the journal, hearts in their stomachs, minds reeling and bodies frozen in place. The only move Envy made was to pull one hand away from the journal to instead curl around Ame's, which she instantly gripped in return. Neither moved or spoke for a long time, before Envy let out a shaky breath and closed the journal and set it aside.

He turned to Ame, eyes serious and shaken, being met with Ame's own black eyes flashing the same emotions back.

"Well…" he murmured in a shaky voice. "We still don't know what's going on. But I think it's safe to say we just found our reason why."

Outside the storm raged and howled, knocking against the windows, screaming into the night like someone were outside, wishing to come back in.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:**

1- ….Yeah. Supernatural reference. You can brick me.

...

WELL.

THAT was fucking DEPRESSING.

BUT NO ONE FEEL BAD FOR RYDEL. PITY HIM. But don't start to like him. You should hate him. Trust me. Yeah.


	11. Chapter Ten

Affection Shown

The night did not go well for either Ame nor Envy, and neither did the rest of the day. They faked their happiness and chipperness well, and if Rydel caught any hint of strain, he didn't mention it. They retired to bed early, unable to face the man anymore after what they had discovered about him.

They had dressed and undressed in silence before both got into their bed together. Tonight, Ame threw caution to the winds and curled up close to Envy, still shaken by the journal entry and memories from her own past that spoke volumes in her weakened mind. Envy didn't protest for a moment, just looped an arm around her waist and lay there until they both fell into fitful sleep, the storm still bashing away at their windows.

Somewhere during the night, Ame awoke with a yell that was just barely kept from a scream, eyes wide and whole body covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat. She knew, without looking in the mirror that her eyes were a deep dark chocolate of the worst fear, pupils most likely slitted like a cornered animal's. She had rose form the bed, padding shakily over to the window and staring out sightlessly at the storm, trying not to think on what she had been dreaming.

The images of a beautiful blonde woman, bloodied and full of bullet holes on the ground, of faceless babies covered in blood, and of her own past came rushing back at her despite this. The shaking from her body would not stop, even as she wrapped her arms around herself in a feeble attempt to quell them. Her mind refused to leave her any reprieve anywhere, and she almost whimpered in horror.

The storm was still pounding away at the windows, allowing her own reflection to stare back at her. Ame tried to ignore the tricks her mind was playing on her, telling her there was a figure standing behind her, a woman in a white shredded dress. She hadn't been in this bad of shape since before she met Edward Elric. Even Nine Tucker hadn't sent her into this kind of shocked state.

"Ame…"

Ame turned her head, expression haunted, to look at Envy. The homunculi was sitting up in bed, sheets still covering his legs, but watching her intently. For a moment, they just stared at one another, Envy's face expressionless, Ame's still remaining haunted. At last, he raised his arms in an open gesture, as if offering a hug.

The movement spoke without words "come here", and Ame didn't have the strength to argue.

She slipped back onto the bed and then into Envy's awaiting arms, burying her head under his chin, breathing shakily and gripping his nightshirt. The homunculi grabbed the blanket they had been laying under and tugged it up over them without a word before laying back on their mound of pillows.

He wrapped his arms tightly around Ame, one around her waist, one around her shoulders, hugging her against him. He didn't seem to mind that she was laying on top of him, and he didn't mind either when she let out a dry sob. Envy just gently petted her hair, murmuring softly that she was safe and nothing was here.

Ame did not even consider disbelieving him once.

The morning dawned with just a soft pitter of rain instead of the gale of the day before, and when the light crept into the room, it found Ame and Envy still asleep on the bed. Envy was curled protectively around Ame as if his sheer presence could keep everything that was haunting her at bay, while Ame was still nuzzled into his chest.

Envy woke first, eyes blinking open blearily to rest on the young girl currently trapped in his arms. He didn't even make a sound as he slowly started running his fingers through her hair, watching her expression as she slept. Whatever her dreams had been, they had been terrible and he knew it. He had never seen her so very shaken before,

Ame woke up seconds later though, looking up once at Envy before quietly pushing away from him and sitting up to get out of the bed. There was a quiet command never to speak of this again hanging in the air. Envy sorely wished it wasn't there, but he'd rather have a relatively freaked out but still calm Ame than an angry Ame any day.

Ame dressed in silence, then waited for him to do the same. When Envy turned from having drawn his hair into a ponytail, he found Ame sitting on their bed, shoulders slumped, eyes to the ground.

"Ame?" he asked softly.

Ame would talk if she wanted to, he knew that, and so he waited for her first words to be spoken.

"Why?"

At first Envy didn't understand what in the name of god(1) she was talking about before Ame elaborated.

"Why do governments do this sort of thing? Lie to their people. Throw children into war. Create monsters that are driven only by desire to kill. Do things that go against nature and the laws of the world and for what? What is the POINT to it all?"

Envy winced at the "create monsters" bit, but was pleasantly surprised when she added the "desire to kill" part. He knew for a fact that he wasn't a kill machine. Sure he was a natural born killer, and yeah he could kill without trouble, but he wasn't some psycho like…like….like Barry the Chopper. Yeah. He was out of his mind.

But still, he wasn't sure how to answer Ame's question without sounding like a complete jackass. There was no "right" answer to what she said, and there wasn't really a "wrong" one either. But there was a difference between answers that would hurt her and answers that would make her see the truth. Unfortunately, Envy wasn't good in the field of help versus hurt, so he went about it the only way he knew how and hoped it worked.

"There isn't a reason. There is not why, how or who it just IS. People have been doing this to each other for as long as societies have existed."

Perhaps that wasn't the most gentle way of saying it, but Ame looked up from the floor anyway. Not at him, but at the wall this time, and that was a step closer than he had been.

"I don't really know how to say it Ame, but most often, people are just…stupid. They do stupid things for stupid reasons and it has stupid after effects. I, of all people, should know."This time, Ame did look up.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"Well…Take Rydel's situation for instance. Someone in the government decided to tell people it was safe to head out East again. Stupid. Probably, just as propaganda to encourage people into thinking all was well. Stupid. As a result, Celestine died and god knows how buckets of crazy Rydel went. Once more. STUPID."

Ame smiled wryly.

"If everyone lived by that form of stupidity Envy, then I think just about everyone would be considered stupid."

"…Well yeah."

She chuckled, though it still sounded strained.

"So you think everyone is stupid?"

"Generally people are idiots, yeah."

She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.

"I mean, there are SOME exceptions. Fullmetal, Dr. Marcoh, Scar, yourself…"

"You think highly of humanity."

Envy laughed.

"I said they were idiots, but I didn't say they were idiots ALL the time. Good idiots can seriously help the world when they know what they're doing, they're just liable to do stupid things sometimes."

"…You're….So freaking WEIRD."

"Thank you."

Ame shook her head with a small smile, eyes back to black again. Rising from her bed, she walked over to Envy, and leaning up, kissed his cheek gently.

"Thanks for the pick me up Envy."

And then she was out the door before Envy could even react. He stood there for a moment, half shocked, half gleeful, before raising a hand and brushing his fingertips over where she had kissed him. The area somehow felt warmer than the rest of his body, which was stupid, because if the room had gotten warmer his body would have adjusted to it like a chameleon.

Brushing it off as best he could, Envy slipped on his shoes and left the room after his "sister", shutting the door and following her down the hall.

If he was an enigma, then Ame was too, because he really didn't understand half the things she did.

Ame on the other hand walked swiftly down to the dining hall, mentally screaming at herself. What the HELL had she kissed his cheek for? She had only ever kissed Edward's cheek! And that had been ONCE on NEW YEARS because he had kissed hers and she felt it was right to return the gesture! SHE DID NOT RANDOMLY KISS PEOPLE'S CHEEK. LEAST OF ALL ENVY. GAH.

Dear GODS what was WRONG with her?

Just because she and Envy suddenly seemed to be getting along better was NO reason to go around showing so much affection. In fact, it was no reason to be showing affection at all. She didn't like Envy, even if she suddenly was able to tolerate him. He was the enemy, he always would be, as soon as this was over they'd be back at one another's throats. Damnit. She really needed to get a grip.

*Ed would be yelling at me like no tomorrow if he could see me now…* she thought dully.

"Ame?"

Ame's head jerked up. She hadn't realized she had already reached the dining room, where Rydel was waiting.

"Ah, yes Rydel?" she asked, making her voice as timid as she could.

"Where's your sister? Is she feeling alright?"

Ame waved a hand awkwardly.

"Oh, she, she's fine, just woke up late so she's still, uh, getting dressed. I left before her cause I was hungry."

So it wasn't THE most convincing lie in the world, but who cared, it apparently worked and that's all that mattered.

Ame sat at the table, her usual spot, two seats down from Rydel, leaving a place for Envy when he finally arrived. She feared the awkward tension that would no doubt rear it's ugly head when he DID arrive, however, and she couldn't help cursing herself once more.

When the elder did appear, he smiled and chirped a "good morning" at Rydel before taking his place beside Ame and grabbing a waffle. He didn't so much as send her a weird glance, and as far ash she could tell, was acting perfectly normally. Deciding that in this situation, she was the one over thinking things and making it awkward, so she dropped it and went back to the way it had been before. Acting as shy as she could, she continued eating, allowing Envy to ruffle her hair or show some other kind of affection every now and again.

She hadn't really been paying attention, until Envy poked her cheek.

"Aaaaameeeee…"

Blinking, she looked up.

"Yes sister?"

"You spaced out, Rydel was talking to you."

She blinked again. Well. Crap. She hadn't meant to get so lost in thought.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Rydel smiled, and Ame nearly flinched. Now that she knew why his eyes were so cold, it was that much harder to face him when he tried to seem happy.

"I was saying that there's an annual event coming up that I would like you two to attend. You don't have to, if you don't want to, of course."

Ame cocked her head to the side.

"What is it?"

"Well, every year, my family used to host a huge ball on the first day of winter. I still carry out the tradition, of course. A lot of townsfolk will be coming, but so will politicians and other high rollers. If you feel uncomfortable being there, please, don't force yourselves to come."

Envy was grinning though.

"A ball? That sounds fun!" he turned to Ame. "Let's go Ame! We'd be able to meet lots of people!"

Ame got the translation without a moment of confusion. We'd be able to meet lots of people loosely meant, we'd be able to investigate what other's know about Rydel.

"It DOES sound fun." she murmured softly.

Rydel beamed and again, Ame almost flinched.

"Then I shall have clothes prepared for you, is that alright?"

The pair nodded, not really minding the thought. They didn't have anything quite fancy enough to wear anyway.

The rest of breakfast went by without too much consequence, and the rest of the day mostly the same. Envy and Ame retired to their rooms late, having stayed up playing chess with Rydel until at least midnight. When Ame curled up in bed, she was not in Envy's embrace this time, trying to tell herself that she didn't miss the moderate warmth he provided. Suddenly however, the homunculus was looming over her and for half a second she panicked before he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her cheek.

He was gone a moment later, laying on his side of the bed and falling asleep, leaving Ame to wonder if she had just imagined that.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:**

1- As some of you have noticed, when Ame says things like this she says "gods" as opposed to "god". The reason is that by her culture there are multiple "gods" and "goddesses" and higher beings in general, so unless I typo something, she usually says "gods".

Crappy filler chapter is crappy and filler.

I'm working on chapter eleven though.

So don't try to eat me.

Please.


	12. Chapter Eleven

When Things Start to Change

The next three weeks passed by in mostly a blur of colors and sounds for the undercover would-be siblings, without anything interesting or useful coming up. As much as it annoyed them, and truly it did, Envy and Ame couldn't bring themselves to really HATE spending so much time together. The incident when they exchanged kisses on the cheek was never mentioned again, but hand holding became highly frequent. It got to the point that their hands would just drift together of their own accord.

If either Ame or Envy found this strange, they never said it.

A week after Rydel had spoken to them about the ball, a designer had come to get concept designs of what they wanted and assess their figures. Instead of deciding on the dresses themselves, the pair left it up to Rydel who was all too happy to comply. It appeared as though it was simply two indecisive girls wanting to be surprised with their costumes. In reality, Envy had been mortified enough that he would have to wear a dress and couldn't possibly comprehend designing one for himself.

Ame tried not to laugh. Seriously she did. She just happened to fail epically at it.

Measurements for the dresses came the next week, and that was a long, torturous six hours of seemingly endless and unnecessary uses of tape measures and chatters of hair designs and stitches and….other….stuff that was apparently important. Neither Envy nor Ame had been more bored or worn out by the time they flopped into bed. ("I hear ONE more WORD about cross hatching or rope stitches and I will MURDER them…" Envy had growled before wrenching on his sleep shirt.)

The ball was in a matter of days now, and the day had come for ("Oh god no…") the fittings. Envy had actually seriously considered pretending to be too taken with his heart condition to attend, but that would have left Ame alone with the psychotic dressmakers, and even he wasn't that cruel. I mean, they almost undressed them during the measuring alone, and if Envy hadn't almost screamed "RAPE" at the top of his lungs, they would have too.

So Envy dragged himself out of bed without much conviction and got dressed for the day in a pair of loose cargo pants and a navy blue sweatshirt. Ame followed shortly after him in a black sweatshirt of her own and a pair of jeans that almost covered her feet. Neither of them were really all that awake, and they were both dreading the impending fittings, but it wasn't like they could escape it, even if they tried.

"Breakfast?" Ame offered.

"I'll go if you're hungry, but my appetite died with my dignity."

Ame slipped her hand into Envy's as they left the room and he tangled their fingers affectionately.

"Your dignity isn't dead. You're more of a man for actually doing this without complaint Envy."

"You think?"

"Absolutely."

Envy grinned and squeezed her hand gently before they darted out of the room and down the hall.

The dining room was empty save Richard and Lacey, who informed them that Rydel once more had business. It was the first time in the last two weeks or so he had and Ame could practically see the smoke coming out of Envy's ears. The one time he goes back to "work" was the one day they couldn't go and investigate. God the world must hate them or something.

Still Ame sat down at the table, let go of Envy's hand and served herself a small portion of eggs and a piece of toast. Envy decided to forsake the eggs and just take toast, glaring glumly at the tabletop. The servants had left them on their own, as they had learned to do when Rydel wasn't around, so they didn't hear him cursing in some foreign language that Ame didn't understand. She guessed what he was saying though and briefly tugged at one of his long locks of hair.

"Quit griping."

Her tone was calm instead of reprimanding and the homunculi was quiet without so much as a complaint. Somehow, the two of them had grown into a steady friendship of sorts, and for the time being they both decided to forget what would happen after this mission was over. Ame silently vowed, never to be known by Envy or anyone else, that she would leave the fighting and conflicts with Envy to Edward from now on.

After what was going on here, she just couldn't really bring herself to think of fighting him. And that terrified her beyond belief.

The room where the fittings were to take place was obviously once the room of a live-in tailor. There were folding screens standing everywhere and a large sewing machine in one corner, standing beside a smaller one that looked equally as complicated. There were dress forms for both males and females standing at random intervals around the room, and two faceless, full body mannequins had been there too. Ame had been glad when the dress maker said they wouldn't be needed though, because they reminded her of the faceless children in her dreams after reading Rydel's journal.

Today the curtains were drawn back to reveal a beautifully clear midday sky, free of clouds and any signs of the rain that had plagued them all month long. It was almost a replica of the day Ame had been sent on this mission and she couldn't help sighing. She wondered if Edward and the others missed her at all.

"It's gonna rain." Envy said suddenly.

Ame raised an eyebrow.

"And how can you tell THAT Mr. Weatherman? And more importantly, why do I care?"

He pointed to the edges of the widow's line of vision, revealing a touch of dark purple edging ever closer to them.

"That's storm clouds. Either they're gonna go around us, or straight over us." he beamed cheekily. "As for the second, you were being pouty."

"I do NOT pout!"

"Sure you don't Ame."

Regardless of how she acted or what she said, Ame was quite thankful that Envy had pulled her from her thoughts like that. She had a habit of getting lost in her own mind and people usually needed to drag her back to reality so she didn't hurt herself or others. Over the last month or so, Envy seemed to have become both accustomed and highly skilled, at pulling her back into the world of the living. A simple chirp of her name, or a squeeze of her hand and her thoughts were abandoned back to the deep dark hole from whence they came.

She tried hard not to read into the fact that it usually took Alphonse AND Edward to drag her back from her mind. In fact, as of lately, she just tried not to read into Envy or their… relationship…thingy. If she did, she was terrified of what she might find.

The two sat down on an ornate looking velvet couch, sitting close together without really thinking about it. Ame watched the sky as if it would just start raining out of the blue, while Envy sat beside her and just contemplated things that came to mind. Like Ame. He'd been contemplating Ame a lot lately, and he was pretty sure now he knew the reason why, he just wasn't going to say it…yet. He'd say it, just not at this very moment. But soon.

Envy had never been known for keeping his opinions and thoughts quiet, and when he had just realized something this huge, well, he wasn't going to keep it to himself forever.

The minutes ticked by, and suddenly is was half-past eleven and the doors swung open and the dress maker and her two assistants stepped in. The woman herself was tall, with oval glasses and a prim suit, coupled with stilettos and a high collared under shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, just a few locks of auburn falling around her lightly tanned face. As much as she looked like a stern librarian, Emma Horowitz was just about as far from the stuck up, nose in the air women who worked with books. Actually she was rather loud and hyper. Sort of like… Like a gay fashion designer on a sugar high(1). Only she wasn't gay, she was female.

Her two assistants, a gay man-boy (he looked 20-ish but claimed he was almost thirty (no one believed him)) named Maurice and a dark skinned girl named Dana followed her in, carrying her bags for her and looking slightly chagrinned.

"Helloooooo ladies~!" she crowed as she sauntered into the room. "No prying men around I see?"

"Rydel had business to attend to Em, we TOLD you that!"

"Oh. Did you Dana?"

"GOD EM! You'd think you don't listen at all!"

"Oh but I was just SOOO excited to come see the most adorable siblings ever! Besides, their dresses are FABU!"

Ame tried to contain her laughter as Envy visibly paled, then went back to normal. The poor guy, he was putting up with so much. It was admirable.

"What no HELLO? Ladies!"

Ame jumped up first and hugged Emma around the middle. She had resolved to keep the woman's card and go have tea with her sometime after this all was over and the story was out. She was sure that Emma and her would have an excellent time laughing over things and just chatting. The woman was like the older sister Ame never wanted but got anyway.

"Ameeee~ Oh you're as cute as ever~!"

Ame allowed herself to be cuddled like a large teddy bear. Heck, people around here did it enough that she'd just sorta gotten used to it.

"And ERI! C'mere cutie!"

Envy was glaring at Ame the whole time he was being smooshed by Emma's large breasts. It was sort of funny, really, considering just about any other guy would have been savoring the moment.

"Oh you two are just so sweet!"

As soon as the hellos were done (Maurice had kissed both of Ame's cheeks affectionately and she didn't mind. The guy was the sweetest excuse for a boy.) they set to work, unloading spare fabric, a pop up sewing machine and a bunch of other things that would be needed. The assistants grabbed a pair of dress forms and scampered off to fit their dresses onto them for momentary display.

Emma started babbling about the specifics of the dresses, and both Ame and Envy pretended to be interested while zoning out. Ame was being more successful than her counterpart, he looked ready to fall asleep. Emma was so exuberant though that she didn't even seem to notice, or she just didn't care.

"So," Maurice began, clapping his hands together and walking back out from behind a folding screen. "We have the dresses made, but the seams aren't finalized."

"So we'll be fitting them on you." Dana continued. "We figured we might as well considering we have a whole day for this."

Ame could almost hear Envy's mental sob.

Maurice stood outside the folding screen, babbling away to Ame about one thing or another while the younger girl listened intently. Maurice was a relatively average sized man, about five nine, with black hair that flopped everywhere and rectangular glasses. He was cute, to say the least, and she wasn't surprised to hear he had a very doting boyfriend, who he had apparently been dating since high school. (Ame had not hesitated to mark this under another sign of true love, much to Envy's chagrin.)

He had been paired off with Ame after Envy had come up with a very quick, but relatively believable excuse as to why he'd rather dress alone (something about them having had an alcoholic father who used to beat him and the scars on his back. Emma had bought it.). Of course, like Maurice, Dana was probably waiting outside as he pulled the dress on, but at least his maleness was hidden.

"How does it fit Ame?"

Ame snapped out of her thoughts and finished pulling on her dress, turning to look at herself in the mirror. Usually, she didn't think too highly of her appearance, but even she had to admit, she looked good in this thing.

The dress was all black velvet, stopping just above her ankles with a slit up to mid-thigh on the left side. It was sleeveless, with threading of velvet and laces along her shoulders, but nothing covering from collarbone up. Connected to the dress was a collar that wrapped around her neck like a turtleneck and held the rest of the dress up. The back dipped down her spine to just inches above her tailbone, revealing her shoulder blades and the curve of her back. For once, Ame was really glad that most of her scars were unnoticeable unless you really looked.

That, and she had invested in a yokai illusionist who had put a thin layer of "sight" over her back to cover the more visible scars. Edward had said it was pointless and no one in their right mind would mind, but she didn't care. It made her feel better to hide it, as childish and weak as that sounded.

Smoothing her hands along the front of the dress, Ame looked over herself again, staring at her pale skin and dark eyes. She wasn't used to looking at herself and liking what she saw, she was so used to wincing at the dark bags under her eyes and the worn out look on her face, or to see her ribs sticking out from her skin because they hadn't stopped to rest in a week and she's secretly been giving her food to Ed. He was, after all, living for two people, and she could survive. Foxes had been known to go two weeks to a month on nothing but a few mouthfuls.

"There are some loose edges and the chest area needs to be loosened." she called out. "I can't tell much else."

"Well let me see you!"

Turning from her reflection, Ame stepped out from behind the folding curtains to face Maurice, whose eyes went wide and he clapped his hands.

"DAMN girl, you been hiding this figure under all those baggy clothes?"

Ame laughed sheepishly.

"I don't really like my body…" she mumbled. And she really didn't, she hated being so skinny and how white her skin was. It was irritating.

Maurice looked the younger girl up and down once before clicking his tongue.

"Well, loosened in the chest area indeed." he looked over her shoulder. "And we should pull that back up a bit, cute as your ass is, there are too many perverts who shouldn't be allowed it see it."

If any other guy had said that, she would have decked them without a second thought. But Maurice was A) gay and B) tended to say stuff like that. She had gotten used to it after the first day, though the slap Envy got on his ass still shocked him. It was funny as far as Ame was concerned, of course.

"Alright, hold still so I can pin these bits up- Yes that's it."

Ame stood stock still, mind wandering to what Envy's dress looked like. They had had their dresses kept secret from one another as Emma wanted them to be a surprise. Even Rydel didn't know, apparently.

Once all the pins were in place, she allowed Maurice to pull down the straps against her shoulders and the collar around her neck before she disappeared behind the folding curtain to shimmy out of the dress entirely.

It would be another four hours before either dress was finished.

Emma and her two assistants had stepped out for about a half an hour to go talk with Rydel, leaving Ame and Envy in their completed dresses, looking themselves over in their respective mirrors.

"I'll come out if you will." Envy called from the other side of the room, tugging at the straps of his dress.

"Depends." Ame said with a smirk in her voice. "Is it worth seeing?"

"Dunno, think it'd get Mustang going."

Ame laughed as a response and Envy joined her. The fact that he actually wasn't kidding lingered in his mind and he wondered how it would be to take this dress with him when they left. Specifically for the purpose of using it on Mustang, of course.

Ame slipped out from behind her folding curtain and headed towards the back of the room where there was a large window and the couch they had been sitting on earlier. She figured Envy would gravitate there anyway, not wanting to risk someone opening the door and seeing them, mainly because…well…he was in a dress. Even if he WAS going to have to wear that dress to a party quite soon.

She stood there, arms behind her back, waiting for any sign of her partner.

"I swear, I look utterly ridiculous." Envy muttered from around a dress form. "Lust would laugh her ass off if she saw me now."

"Or drool."

"Shut up."

Ame let out a soft chuckle and crossed her arms across her stomach.

"Really Envy, you're being silly, get out here and let me see you."

"FINE! Just….don't….laugh…"

Envy stepped out and Ame was caught between gaping and blush bright red. In the end, she settled on blushing like a teenage girl (which she was, but that wasn't the point).

Unlike her own long, flowing dress, Envy's was short, and where the slit on her dress stopped, Envy's dress stopped altogether. That being said she got a good view of Envy's legs from mid-thigh down, and she had to admit, he DID have some very girly looking legs. The dress was of a gothic-lolita, almost doll-like style with a puffy, lacey skirt and an ambiguous midsection with no sleeves, just straps. It was a mix of black, grays and whites, all blending nicely into a very appealing looking dress.

The skirt area was gray, with white under lace, while there was a front section that looked almost like an apron in the way it fell which was black with a pair of white rectangles.(2) The sash around it was also black, but with more of a midnight-blue sheen to it so it glittered in the light. There was also a pair of arm warmers reaching from the middle of his upper arm down to his hands, where they cut off in much the same manner as his homunculi armbands. A black lace choker was around his neck in an innocent, yet highly suggestive band that really just topped off the whole look.

There was a dusting of pink across his nose, and in any other situation, Ame would have pointed this out, but right now, she was too transfixed with how GOOD Envy looked. Male or otherwise, Envy looked really, well honestly, PRETTY in the dress, and Ame couldn't help admiring the fact that he had curves that on any other guy would have looked strange.

"Go on." he mumbled. "Laugh. I know you want to. Might as well get it over with."

Ame opened her mouth, but then decided she didn't trust her voice and simply shook her head in response. She caught Envy's raised eyebrow and muttered;

"You don't look bad Envy, or ridiculous."

This time Envy just sort of blinked and stared at her.

"How do I look then?"

"Hot."

The minute Ame said it, she mentally slapped a hand over her mouth and screamed what the fuck. Outwardly however, she just cleared her throat, turned to look out the window and tried to both hide and ignore her blush for all it was worth. She could feel Envy's shocked stare and hoped desperately that her statement could just be ignored.

"…You think I look hot?"

A curt nod. Might as well just go with it, now that it was said. No use ignoring it.

"In THIS?"Another curt nod this time coupled with another clearing of her throat.

"How can you possibly think I look GOOD in this?"

"You just do!"

"But-"

Ame whipped around to send an embarrassed glare in Envy's direction, cheeks rosy, and she snapped at him.

"You're attractive alright? You look good in whatever you wear!"

…

Well that wasn't necessarily what she had been intending on saying, but that's what had come out. Now she just prayed she didn't somehow make this situation any worse than it already was.

"You find me attractive…?"

"Yes."

….

What the hell was with her and just not thinking before she spoke today? She had to be tired or sick or something, or maybe possessed, there was no way her mouth was running itself like this, seriously.

Turning back to the window, Ame willed herself to just sink into the ground. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life, never been so hot under the collar either though. Envy really WAS attractive, and she really did think him rather hot, but… it was Envy. (Wow, it had been a LONG time since she used that one on herself.) And Envy would be her enemy the instant they were out of here and the weakness she was already showing was bad enough, she really didn't need…

Ame started when she felt hands on her elbows, gripping gently so her crossed arms were loosed slightly. She didn't whip around until she felt the breath on her cheek though, spinning to snap something else, only to freeze.

For a moment, all Ame could register was that Envy was very, very, VERY close, until she noticed the presence of something soft on her lips. At first, she was utterly baffled, until it occurred to her precisely what was going on. Ame's heart went from slamming inside her chest to frozen stiff in a block of ice and the blush on her cheeks drained until her face was starch white and her eyes widened immensely.

If, at the beginning of this mission, someone had told her this would be happening, she would have called them out of their flipping minds. But it was happening, and no matter what she told herself, Ame could not deny it. Envy was kissing her.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** http: / blood- inthe- rain. deviantart. com/# /d2xfpcz (Remove spaces, and if the link went and disappeared on me, blood-inthe-rain, the deviation is titled "Dresses -SISTERHOOD-"

1- I am allowed to say this without insult or prejudice as I have grown up around gay fashion designers and gay men and women all my life. Trust me. Sugar high + Gay fashion designer = Some wicked awesome by FUCKING OUT THERE clothes. And a REALLY hyper and happy personality.

2- Er, my mom designed these dresses for me (she's a fashion designer), and I'll be posting the concept sketches on my dA. The LINK is ABOVE! *pointpoint*

So...Only one thing to say in this situation...

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?

Answer?

Hahaha...

You don't get to know yet. 8D

*shot*


	13. Chapter Twelve

Decisions in Need of Making

Ame stared at the ceiling, eyes blank, laid out on the middle of the bed, body straight save her arms that laid a foot or so from her torso. She was alone in the bedroom, Envy was out with Rydel somewhere, and it left her to her thoughts for a good two hours. She had already been laying here for half an hour, mind blank, but now her thoughts started moving again.

Envy, ENVY, had kissed her. Not eagerly, not passionately, not all loverly, just….kissed her. Softly, as if not totally sure of himself, and just once. There had been nothing romantic about it, and hell, they'd been wearing DRESSES, which Ame hated and well, Envy was a guy. Truth be told is the was farthest from romantic a kiss could be and yet…

Yet Ame couldn't possibly forget or disregard it. It would have been one thing if it was Edward or Ling. Ling had in fact kissed her once when hiding from restaurant owners as a ploy. She had slapped him afterward, I might add. But this wasn't a kidding kiss, or a test kiss, or a "I really like you and I'm just seeing how much" kiss. This was a kiss like Ame had never been kissed before and it was…disturbing her. It wasn't her first kiss, not really. Ame had been kissed before, even before the Ling thing, but those couldn't REALLY be counted. Those were all forced on her by attackers and would be rapists and…whatnot. Those people. The ones who had wanted her because she was the last kitsune. Yeah those guys.

It was her first…well, not WILLING kiss, but the first kiss she'd had that hadn't been meant for some ulterior purpose other than just…KISSING her. Which, in retrospect was pretty ironic because it was Envy, who was a very manipulative homunculi on most occasions.

But he hadn't tried to manipulate the situation, not so far anyway. No, actually, he hadn't said anything about it since it happened and Ame wondered if it would stay that way.

Envy had just pulled back from the kiss when Emma and her two assistant extraordinaire barged in to chatter on about the dresses, interrupting the moment and breaking the trance they had been in. He let go of Ame's arms and stepped back, as if realizing that she was currently in shock and would SERIOUSLY need a cool down period after that. He hadn't pushed any affection on her since and had been called away to Rydel soon after the fittings were done. Ame had said she wasn't feeling well and here she was, trying to work out what the hell was going on.

The first question that came to mind (after WHAT THE FUCK) was why exactly he had kissed her. What was the PURPOSE of the kiss? Had she been sending mixed signals that she LIKED him like that? Was she leading him on or something? Ame was pretty sure the affection they'd been sharing was nothing more than friendly. Holding hands was pretty tame right? Ed held her hand plenty of times for whatever reason, so did Winry…

Ame groaned and closed her eyes, brows knitting in frustration. She shouldn't even BE acting friendly to Envy, let alone allowing him to kiss her. Somewhere along the way something inside her had gone wrong and now she was completely screwed. Hate had turned into tolerance, had turned into understanding, had turned into caring, had turned into friendship, had turned into affection had turned into…what? She didn't know. Everything was entirely muddled inside of her, she was so confused.

She had actually been sorting everything out beforehand, figuring out how to explain to Edward that she seriously COULDN'T fight Envy anymore, but now… Now she had no idea what the hell was going on and it felt like she was losing her mind. Which was awful. Because she's nearly gone crazy before and really, it wasn't fun at all.

The soft click of the lock told Ame that the door was opening and a few seconds later there was the shuffling of clothing and she dimly registered that Envy had just entered. Some small part of Ame hoped that he'd say something, but the rest of her was prayed with all its might that Envy would just go to sleep and not try to talk to her.

The smaller part got its way.

"Ame…?"

She hummed a response, not really trusting her voice right now.

The bed dipped by her legs and she opened her eyes to see Envy sitting at the foot of the bed, looking at her. Ame knew she could sit up at any given moment, her legs were off the end of the bed, but for some reasons he didn't move.

"Ame, about the fittings…"

She really wished Envy would shut up. Or at the least stop saying her name. He said it…differently now. Spoke it like it was the name of some highly revered person who deserved all of his love and respect. It was unnerving at best.

"I think you deserve an explanation."

"I'd have to agree."

Ame hadn't meant to answer, but she couldn't help it. DESERVE and explanation? Hell yeah she did!

Envy smiled wryly.

"Yeah, I know." he cleared his throat. "Look, I'm bad at this kind of stuff, I've never done it…ever. So…"

Ame just waited, propping herself up on her elbows, watching him carefully.

"I…Well, it's not normal for me to get this…CLOSE to people. I generally don't. Ever. And with good reason, I mean, c'mon, homunculus and all." he smiled wryly again. "So it's not…easy for me to trust someone so easily, or totally but…" he cleared his throat softly. "But I trust you. A lot. And, in most situations, I would probably kill you for that because me trusting you is…dangerous. To say the least."

Ame tensed, and apparently her companion noticed because he continued quickly.

"I'm not going to! I can't- I mean, I'd never- I wouldn't- Oh hell with it."

He turned to stare Ame in the eye and for a second she was totally lost in the burning lilac fire within his eyes. She'd never seen so much raw and uncharted emotion in anyone's eyes before, least of all Envy's.

"Ame, I like you. I like you more than I like Lust, more than I like anyone actually, more than I've EVER liked anyone. And the thing is, the reason I know I like you differently than anyone else, I'm not myself around you. I don't want to kill anyone, I don't want to cause chaos, I don't want to do ANYTHING homunculi are practically programmed for."

Ame tried to breath, but the fire in his eyes was just burning brighter and brighter and she was starting to get lost in it.

"You tame me Ame." he said softly. "You make me wish I wasn't what I am, if only for the sake of the fact that I could be around you ALL the time. It scares me how easily you calm me down Ame, just a word, a single word, and suddenly I can't even feel a hint of anger or hate. One touch from you and I can't even feel the world around me, and I couldn't figure out why for the longest time."

He reached up a hand and cupped her jaw, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

"But then it hit me, practically out of the blue I might add, it wasn't preempted or anything. My feelings for you were evolving from friendship and caring to something…more. More than just plain affection, more than sweetness, something that I still can't quite place, because I'm not quite there yet, but I can tell you this much Ame."

Ame felt her heart pounding against her ribcage like it was trying to beat out of her chest and she wished desperately this were a dream so she could pinch herself and just wake up.

"If this keeps up, these feelings, these emotions, then I have no doubt in my mind that I WILL fall in love with you."

At first the words meant nothing to her, but then the full impact of what they meant slammed into her like a ton of bricks. The wind was knocked out of her and her heart spluttered to an ungainly stop, and for a second she was sure she was going to just faint.

"You….WHAT?" she asked in a mere whisper.

"I'm falling in love with you." Envy reiterated. "I'm falling hard and fast and it's not going to stop. I don't WANT it to stop."

Ame's heart was hopping around her chest, slamming then stopping then slamming again.

"I realize this is probably really hard for you to understand, or even accept, but you have the right to know how I feel about you. Please, understand that I'm not going to force myself on you, ever, so if you don't want me, I'll back off, but…" he took a breath. "If you're willing to give me a chance, I'll show you how much you mean to me…"

He trailed off, thumb pausing beneath her eye, eyes still blazing, staring into hers. Ame could barely comprehend what was going on, her mind was reeling and flopping all over the place. It was like someone had called Edward short then stuffed him inside Ame's head to tangle all her thoughts into a big pile of meaningless mush.

"I…" she swallowed. "Are you serious…?"

"Deadly serious." Envy confirmed. "There are a lot of things we homunculi lie about. Our feelings are not one of them."

And Ame believed him. In all of her experience with the homunculi, never once had they sugar coated how they felt about something. Manipulated the situation, yes, but if they hated you, liked you, tolerated you, wanted to kill you, you knew.

She swallowed again, finally averting her eyes from Envy's, unable to watch the sheer emotion swirling inside them. Right now, her mind was trying to come up with an adequate response of…some kind. Any kind. She had to say SOMETHING…

"I…I…" she ran her tongue over her top lip. "C-can you give me some time…please?"

Time to what? Figure out WHAT? There was nothing to figure out or think about or…ANYTHING! She didn't LIKE Envy! Not…not like that! No way….right…?

"Of course Ame."

Envy's voice was low and soothing, as if trying to reassure her that he was still the friend she'd had over the past few weeks.

"Take all the time you need to decide."

That night Ame curled up on her side of the bed for the first time since they had discovered Rydel's diary, mind spinning, wishing she was home.

Five days and nights later found Ame glaring at her reflection in the mirror, wondering why she had ever agreed to this. The mirror had been moved into their room earlier in the day so they could dress themselves appropriately for the ball when the time came. Well, the time had come and Ame was growing increasingly frustrated with her clothing.

"Whose idea was this?" she muttered, tugging at the fingerless black gloves she had decided would accompany her clothing.

"Emma's. Rydel's. God's."

"Shut up Envy."

Things between Envy and Ame had returned to almost normal, sort of. The whole ordeal was far from forgotten, but it was at the moment put to the back of their minds, or at least, that's where Ame tried to stuff it. She didn't need the awkward rift that suddenly seemed to have spread between them when they were trying to do their job, so she ignored it for the most part and went about life as usual.

Behind her, Envy chuckled, coming out of the bathroom holding a brush in one hand and smirking.

"You look good, quit complaining. You're not the one who's secretly a guy you know."

"Yeah yeah…"

She turned to him and held out a hand, into which the brush was placed.

"Sit down then. What am I doing, by the way?"

"Braid if you wouldn't mind."

"No problem."

Ame began brushing out Envy's hair which was both surprisingly silky and surprisingly cooperative. Her own hair was already pulled back into an attractive looking bun, held in place with a black ribbon that was too long so it fell down her back. Hair still fell about her face in the usual bangs, and it didn't seem like she had any intention of pining them back.

"…Hey Ame?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do one side of your bangs cover more of your face than the other?"

Ame paused for a moment, then resumed her brushing.

"When I was younger, this guy attacked me and sliced me across the eye. It healed, but there was a mark there for a long time and I had to wear a bandage, then an eye patch till it was gone. People stared at me enough without seeing that, so I let that side of my hair grow out more. It just sorta stuck, I guess."

Raising a hand, Envy fingers one of her locks of hair with a small smile.

"It looks good like that, but you should pin it back sometimes. I'd like to fully see both of your eyes."

Ame flushed, then cleared her throat and went back to brushing out Envy's hair, before grabbing a white ribbon to tie back his dark hair with.

Over the last five days, she had analyzed, double-analyzed and TRIPLE analyzed her feelings about Envy, trying to figure out what it all meant to her. What HE meant to her. So far, it was all still jumbled into an incomprehensible mess, making it difficult to find the proper response to things like what he had just done. She wished one of her friends were here, they would be able to sort things out for her…

Ame quickly braided Envy's hair, leaving some of the shorter locks out as bangs, tying it off with the white ribbon in a bow. She tried not to laugh at the thought of what Edward would look like with a bow in his hair.

"All done Envy."

Envy stood and went to look at himself in the mirror, glaring at his reflection.

"This is so far beyond humiliating."

"I stand by what I said. You look hot."

And for some reason, saying that didn't feel strange anymore. Maybe it was because she knew that Envy…felt for her. …Or something like that…

"So." Envy clapped his hands together. "Shoes."

Ame held out his, trying not to snicker.

"I think considering you're playing a sixteen year old girl, they thought it only fair to sex it up."

"I hate them. So much."

Envy's boots had three inch heels and were skin tight, reaching to about an inch and a half above his knees, drawing attention to his thighs instantaneously.

"I swear to god Emma has gotta be bi."

"Either that or she just wants to throw you to a pack of willing men."

"Shocker they'd get."

"Extremely."

Ame's shoes one the other hand were two inch high heels that were open toed and laced up with ribbons. She tied this up to just beneath her knees, and was highly miffed to find that these too attracted attention to her legs.

"I hate this."

Envy patted her shoulder with a barely hidden smile.

"If it's any consolation, you look wonderful."

Ame flushed and smiled at her companion.

"Thanks Envy…"

Envy pressed a small kiss to her cheek, before opening the door and slipping out into the hall. For a moment, Ame just stood there, staring at her reflection, wondering if, really, it was so bad to maybe just….CONSIDER these feelings for Envy, before she too left the room.

The first thing Ame registered about the ballroom was that it was fucking HUGE. Like, football field size. At smallest. Envy too, was close to gaping at the sheer massiveness of the room.

The ceiling was painted with an ornate flower garden made up mostly of blues, reds and purples, with a few popping yellow daffodils ever other place. Ame remembered, with a pang, that the yellow flowers hadn't been there until Rydel had them painted at Celestine's request.

Swallowing the weight of sadness that seemed to boil up whenever she thought of Rydel's dead wife, she looked around at the rest of the room. In front of them was a crowd of people, all very rich and well to do, some looking at them, but most having not noticed their appearance. On the far wall were three huge open verandas hanging over the forest and facing the mountains. The west wall was made up of two huge windows that faced a large lake, white the east wall was a huge mirror.

There was ambiance lighting of the brighter type all around the hall, making the whole place seem welcoming, but elegant at the same time. It was a nice effect, and the guests seemed to be enjoying it well enough. Scattered about the floor, mostly off to the side, were various tables and bars with drinks and food, both for the young and those of legal age. There was however, a large place in the middle where no tables stood, presumably for dancing.

"What a turnout…" Envy murmured. "We're gonna spend the whole night just going through the politicians…"

Ame was about to respond, when something caught her eye. She frowned slightly, looking back at the place where she was SURE… But no one was there now, just a fat man with his way-too-young wife. She frowned once more, perplexed.

"Eri, Ame, oh you two looking LOVELY!"

Turning towards the voice, they spotted Rydel in a very fetching emerald green suit coming towards them, Emma and Maurice in tow.

"Dana's out with her fiancé." Maurice told them, once the three had stopped walking beside them. "She sends her regards though."

"Oh the dresses look PERFECT on you! My goodness the both of you look so grown up!"

*If only you knew….* Ame thought blandly, a small smile tweaking her lips as she exchanged a glance with Envy.

"Now girls." Rydel said, smiling softly. "Tonight is a night for fun and games. Eat, drink, dance, have fun. No alcohol for either of you though, you're too young. And careful who you dance with, these men can be seriously lecherous when they want to be."

Envy laughed softly.

"I'm sure we can take care of ourselves Rydel. Thank you for the warning though."

"Of course. Now have FUN, and-"

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt…"

Rydel frowned, but turned to the man who had just arrived. In minutes, they were walking away, talking about business, leaving the "siblings" alone with Emma and Maurice.

"Hah! That's Rydel for you. Knows how to work a crowd, he does." Emma grinned. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a lovely looking young man over there just begging for my attention."

And then she too was gone, off to chat up a wealthy looking man who was probably a politician, and Ame rolled her eyes.

"Oh. She's one of those girls."

"Yup." Maurice said with a sigh. "Find the rich ones and suck 'em dry. She's too pretty for any of them too care."

"By the way Maurice, why are you here all alone?"

"Me?"

Maurice laughed softly.

"I'm her fallback. If any guy is hawking on her too long, she's all over me and he backs off."

Envy frowned at this.

"But don't you have a lover?"

"Daniel doesn't mind, he knows I do this at parties, he understands."

Ame laughed to match Maurice's smile.

"Lucky you."

Envy slipped his hand into Ame's and tugged lightly, making her turn to him momentarily. When he offered no explanation, she excused herself to Maurice, before following her "sister" loyally. Envy didn't let go of her hand as he made his way around the room, and she didn't pull away. They paused at a table to get glasses of the non-alcoholic punch before resuming their walk.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Envy asked softly.

"I say we go after those who look comfortable first."

When Envy sent her a questioning glance, Ame elaborated.

"Most often, those who are even slightly uncomfortable haven't been here before. They try to appear nonchalant, but really, they're nervous. Comfortable ones are more likely to know something about Rydel and his family."

Envy nodded his head slightly, before his eyes narrowed.

"Envy…?"

The homunculi shook his head.

"I thought I saw someone, but…Well never mind. C'mon, let's go."

Ame frowned slightly, but complied, wondering if it was the same someone she had seen herself.

**oOoOo**

**A/N: **

WHAT DOES IT _MEAN_?

We will never know. Or, well, not until next chapter.

...

Lookit Envy go. Makin' the moves on poor defenseless Ame... Heh. You thought it'd be a quick get together didn'tcha? BUT NO! I DRAW IT OUT AND MAKE YOU _SUFFER! _MUAAHAHHAHAHAHAH!

I'm done.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

The Unexpected Arrival

Envy practically collapsed on the plush chair by the wall, sighing loudly.

"I don't BELIEVE this. No one knows flippin' anything! We'll be here all night…."

Ame herself was leaning back against the wall, keeping close to Envy. There had been a lot of men with their eyes on her, and she hadn't at all liked it. Envy seemed to keep them at bay though, whether it was the deadly stare or the "older sister" thing, she wasn't completely sure, but it worked.

The pair were on their third glasses of punch, and their patience was already wearing thin. It had been two, almost three hours, and they had gotten nowhere in their investigation. They had gotten quite a few numbers though, and in Envy's case a couple slaps on the butt. One guy had done it to Ame, Envy had nearly chewed his head off. Other than that, not much had happened, and while Ame was getting frustrated, Envy was growing bored. A bored Envy was never a good thing, because it usually turned into some serious problems for them.

So far however, Envy was controlling himself from doing anything chaos-ensuing, mostly for Ame's sake if nothing else. He knew that if he did anything, it would either upset her or make her angry, neither of which sounded very appealing. Besides, Envy's intent was, first and foremost, to get on her good side. If she could not return his feelings, than at the least, he wanted to become the closest person to her.

Was that selfish of him? To want to be closer to her than even Edward? He knew they had a close history, how close, he wasn't sure, but close enough that she trusted herself completely to him. He wanted to be that close to her too, closer in fact, the closest. But the only way thought could possibly happen would be if she felt the same as him. If he had to settle for second best….then he would settle for second best. Because that was still closer to her than anyone else.

A renewed hatred of Edward Elric was starting up inside him, but for an entirely different reason than before. It was irrational and stupid, still, he supposed the old saying was true. Love made you do stupid things. If this was even love…

Sighing, Envy rubbed his temples, grinding his teeth together in aggitation. All these jumbled-but-straightening-out emotions were causing him some serious grief. And giving him a headache.

"Envy…?"

The name was murmured softly, so no one else could hear, and for a minute, a small shiver passed down his spine. He didn't know why his name sounded so…different, when Ame said it softly, it just did.

"Yeah Ame?"

"Are you okay? You don't look so good…."

He turned to her and offered her a strained smile.

"Just a small headache. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure…?" she murmured softly. "If you're not feeling well you should just go lay down…"

He shook his head, then winced, realizing that had been a bad idea.

"No, really, I'm fine Ame. Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine, just give me a moment or two…"

"Would some water help? There's a lot of sugar in this punch, it might be best if you diluted some of it with water, you know?"

Envy nodded, and was about to rise, when Ame put a hand on his wrist.

"Let me." she murmured. "Just stay here, I'll be right back."

They exchanged a small smile, hers reassuring, Envy's grateful, before she glided off into the crowd. Envy sighed again, this time to himself, watching her retreating form. While most men stared at her with passion or lust, Envy simply watched her with…interest, sincerity, a shy caring that no one else exhibited.

*…Dear god I'm turning into a walking romance novel.* Envy thought in horror. *This is awful. I need to beat the shit out of something, I'm losing my masculinity…*

"Well well well, this IS a surprise…"

Envy blinked, frowning slightly. He knew that voice. Vaguely, but he knew that voice. It was…someone he had met somewhere for…some…reason… Risking a glance up, his eyes widened and his jaw almost went slack (but he restrained himself for the sake of what little dignity he had left).

*…Oh you have GOT to be fucking with me…*

Across the hall, Ame was smiling lightly to the man handing her the glass of ice water, apologizing profusely for taking so long. She simply consoled the young bartender for a few moments before slipping back into the crowd and making her way back towards Envy's current location. Along the way she was stopped a few times to talk to a number of people, but she deflected their comments with a few words before slipping off again.

Spotting her partner, she was about to call out his fake name, when she caught sight of who he was glaring at. For a second, she just froze, shocked, before quickening her steps to a near dash and coming to a halt beside the pair. She would have called out the other's name, but she knew better, she wasn't supposed to know him, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Eri, I brought you water for you headache."

Envy tore his eyes away from the smirking male in front of him and smiled lightly at Ame.

"Thank you little sister." he took the glass in his hands and sipped slowly through gritted teeth.

Ame turned to their companion and said, with a near-smirk on her face.

"And who might you be sir?"

Her smirk was matched as a hand was extended to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, everyone is speaking so highly of the two…sisters, Mr. Arinfield has taken in. I'm Ling Yao, the ambassador of Xing."

They shook hands, and Ame was trying her hardest to keep herself from all out grinning.

She hadn't realized just how much she had missed her old friends over the last month until she was faced with one of them. Ling wasn't the closest to her out of everyone, but he was her fellow countryman and he was fun to be around.

Ling was wearing a white suit with a black tie and red shirt beneath the blazer, a red ribbon tying his hair back in a (for once) neat ponytail. In all honesty, he was looking both professional and attractive, pulling off the "young chic ambassador" with calmness to spare. He was doing it better than Edward ever could, most likely because he grew up in these environments, back when he was in Xing. (Being royalty and all.)

"It's nice to meet you Ling."

Ame didn't even bother with fake formalities, she didn't have the attention span for it at the moment. LING was standing right in front of her and the fact that she had to fake not knowing him SUCKED. She was going to act as friendly as possible and if it came off as flirtatious to the outside viewer, FINE. So be it.

"I was just talking to your…sibling, about the party. Having a nice time Ms…?"

"Ame. And yes, a very nice time. Boring, but Eri is good company."

The tension radiating off of Envy was so thick it might as well have just been a wall between him and them. When Ame lightly placed her hand over his, it dissipated without even a seconds hesitation. Not entirely gone, but down enough that Ame didn't feel like she was choking on battling testosterone.

The action did not go unnoticed by Ling, but Ame glared at him just enough to dare him to make a comment. He got the hint and kept his mouth shut.

"Well, I must confess, I saw you earlier and…well…You're breathtaking in that dress if I may say so, I just had to have a dance. At the least."

And the tension was back, but there was definite anger there now. Ame's first instinct was to lace her fingers with Envy's and he reciprocated with a possessive squeeze of the digits, eyes fixed dangerously on Ling. It was then Ame realized that, really, she was doing nothing to put Envy off, or defend Ling, she was trying to calm Envy. THAT was her first instinct as a person. …That…was not normal.

Never was her first intention with Edward simply to calm him, always it was to deter the most damage away from human beings, THEN calm him.

*What the hell is going on here…?*

Shaking from her thoughts, she smiled lightly at Ling.

"I would love a dance. Could you perhaps, wait just a few moments so I can talk to my sister…?"

"Of course, I'll wait for you over there then?"

"Sounds good."

Ling smiled, waved, and padded off without another word, leaving Envy and Ame alone.

Ame waited a moment, before dropping down beside the chair her "sister" was sitting in.

"You alright Envy?" she asked softly. "Headache any better?"

Her fingertips brushed his right temple and he leaned slightly into the touch. Taking this as a good sign, Ame continued pressing gently against the area, rubbing her thumb against his cheekbone.

"Better." he murmured. "But not gone. You….you just go have fun with Ling…or…whatever…"

He trailed off into a mere mumble, but Ame got the gist of it.

"Envy."

Envy didn't respond.

"Envy look at me."

Still no response.

"ENVY."

She said it loud enough that it was possible someone else heard and Envy knew she was being serious then. Turning his head, their eyes met and he tried not to flinch away from her hard stare.

"Envy, Ling flirts when he talks. It's just the way he is. He flirts with EVERYONE, including guys, including EDWARD. It was NOTHING okay?"

She didn't know why she was reassuring him of this…it shouldn't matter to her…but it did.

"And I WAS NOT flirting with him either." she ran a hand through his bangs softly. "I wouldn't okay…? I promised you I would think about this…thing between us Envy. I AM thinking about it…"

Now she was seriously going off kilter.

"Almost constantly." she whispered. "And everything's jumbled, but, but I'm getting it sorted okay? So…just…trust me…alright?"

Envy blinked in shock, before nodding slightly.

"Okay."

Leaning over, not caring if Ling saw, she kissed Envy's cheek gently.

"Work the crowd, I'll be back once Ling's through tormenting me."

"Have fun."

"Like hell."

And they were back to normal again.

Rising from her crouched position, Ame swept away from her partner in crime towards Ling, dress flowing behind her. When she reached the Xingian prince, he offered her his arm, and she linked their arms, before she was led onto the dance floor.

At first, no words were exchanged as Ling slipped an arm around her waist and clasped their hands together. She reciprocated the grasp and laid her own hand on his shoulder, before they began to sway to the music. Ling was surprisingly good at dancing, to Ame's surprise, and there was little effort on her part as they moved farther out into the crowd.

"Why are you here?" she finally managed to ask, once she was sure they were in the midst of otherwise-preoccupied people.

"They were going to send Armstrong." Ling said with a smile. "But he sort of attracts a lot of attention, you know? I volunteered, cause the Colonel and Edward were arguing about which of them would go."

Ame scoffed.

"Those idiots should know that they're way too recognizable to come to something like this."

But there was affection in her voice as she said it. It was nice to know they had wanted to see her, or at the least, help her.

"That's what the Lieutenant said." he chuckled. "They shut up after that."

"I bet they did."

She smiled softly, eyes glazing over momentarily as she thought of her friends and pseudo-family back home.

"They miss you." Ling murmured. "Alphonse said that Flowerpot missed you too."

Ame nearly broke into giggles. It sounded so ridiculous when Ling said it, but it wasn't too strange. Flowerpot was a tabby cat that she and Al had found sleeping in a (can you guess?) flowerpot just off of Main Street. It had been months ago, and they had left Central after just a week of taking care of her, but the next time they arrived, she was waiting at the train station for them. She was their Central cat now, and she was rather fond of laying on Ame.

"Well I should hope so. That cat is so spoiled, we've pampered her."

"She IS getting fat."

"Hah! I take it that Ed's taken a liking to her?"

"Oh he tries to hide it, he just fails. Bitterly."

They lapsed into silence once more, each in their own little world. To the onlooker, it appeared as though they were quietly dancing, wrapped up in each other, but that couldn't be farther from true.

Ame only snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that Ling's dancing was drawing her back, away from the crowd towards an unknown destination. She didn't resist, she trusted Ling, so she allowed herself to be led without another word.

Glancing over her shoulder, Ame was slightly dismayed to find Envy not in her line of sight. She had really been hoping to give him some kind of sign as to where they were going, but apparently that wasn't possible now. Sighing mentally, she vowed to apologize later on, but for now, she just slipped away from the crowded hall.

As soon as they were in the shadows of a large curtain, Ling let his arms slip form around her and, hand remaining around hers, dragged her behind the drapery. Ame expected to be met with the wall, but instead, she found herself facing a doorway out onto a small terrace, much to her relief. The moon hung overhead and glittered off of a small pond like living jewels, lighting the forest just enough to leave an air of mystery.

Ling led her out onto the stone structure, letting go of her hand to readjust to curtain to hide their little getaway. Ame walked over to the railing of the terrace, leaning against it, staring out over the scenery.

"So." Ling said, done with the curtain. "What's with the whole…Envy in a dress thing?"

Ame raised an eyebrow, not turning to look at her companion.

"I thought you were here for the military's sake. Shouldn't you be asking me about something else?"

"Something tells me that the reason Envy is in a dress coincides with what's been going on."

And Ling was right, of course, because beneath the goofy, aloof exterior, he was actually rather intelligent.

So, Ame started at the beginning and told him everything, relaying every detail (except for a choice few points involving herself and her quickly adapting feelings for Envy). Ling listened attentively, even though she didn't look at him once, not making a sound as she listed everything off.

"Basically, we only have enough to tell you that there's SOMETHING going on, but what exactly, we don't know." she finished calmly.

"Not enough for military involvement…damn."

"Well SORRY, we've been doing the best we can damnit."

"I know, I know, sorry."

Ame sighed, head falling forward.

"We have a lead or two left. Just…Give us more time."

"Time you've got." Ling said seriously. "From US that is, but it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong. I suggest picking up the pace as much as you can."

"You don't need to tell us that."

All was silent for the first time in half an hour, and the sounds of the night filled the pair's ears. Ame watched the rippling water icily, eyes narrowed and hands clenched on the banister. They were missing a VITAL piece of information, something deathly important.

*DAMNIT. We're so CLOSE. What are we missing?* she snarled at herself in her mind.

The silence remained for a good ten minutes, before Ling finally spoke again.

"Ame?"

"Hm?"

"May I ask what's going on between you and Envy…?"

Ame gritted her teeth in annoyance. If Ling was anything, he was observant. Acting like an idiot gave him ample opportunity to watch everyone around him, and as of such he was good at picking things up quickly. So it was really no wonder that he had grasped the change between herself and Envy without much trouble.

"I…I don't know." she finally answered quietly. "I really don't know."

Ling seemed to understand she wasn't finished, as she ran a hand through her hair absently.

"I hated him, I hated him so much, and…and hell I can't even remember why anymore I just did. I hated him. I wanted to kill him and that was all well and good until this stupid, STUPID assignment came up…"

Gritting her teeth again, she glared at the water she had previously been admiring.

"But now everything's changing. So damn FAST, it's like I don't even know myself anymore. He's so fucking CONFUSING, first he's kind, then he's cruel, then he's caring and damnit maybe it's just ME he's like this with but…"

Another sigh.

"But…He's so…soft with me. So easy, like nothing is wrong in the world, and if it is, he can fix it with the snap of his fingers…" she murmured. "He doesn't dance around me like other people, he just watches and observes until he knows what to do."

She shivered as she thought of those lilac-fire eyes on her.

"I hate it."

Ling said nothing until he was sure she was done talking. He then smiled, gently, as if to console Ame.

"So basically, he loves you."

Ame's eyes widened and she spun around to stare at Ling in shock. When she was met with his calm stare, she swallowed and turned her eyes away.

"Yes."

When she said it, it made it so…REAL. So there. Like before it had all been a dream and now it was SERIOUS, now it was THERE. Now she couldn't ignore it.

Before not she could put it to the back of her mind and pretend like she didn't need to think about it. But she DID need to think about it, needed to think about it a lot, all the time, really. Because she wasn't sure just how SHE felt about HIM. What if her feelings were…were turning into… They COULDN'T BE though. No way.

"Ame." Ling said softly. "I don't care."

Once more, Ame stared at Ling, confused.

"I don't care if he's a homunculus, I don't care if he isn't human. He's DIFFERENT around you, and honestly, if he makes you happy, then there's nothing wrong."

"I don't-"

"Yes you do. Or you're well on your way to being."

"I do NOT-"

"YES YOU DO."

The words were said harshly, fast and in a clipped voice that Ame had never heard Ling use before.

"You DO Ame, you do more than you realize and that's understandable, believe me. You're scared of your emotions, with good reason, and you always have been, you can't very well help it. But you need to quit being so damn THICK and admit to yourself that YES, you DO love him."

He took a breath, and said, in a quieter, calmer voice, more like his own.

"You'd like to believe you don't, it's certainly easier, he's your enemy, or he was. But Ame, the more you ignore this and push it away, the more you hurt yourself, and the more you hurt him, and even if you won't admit it that's something you don't want to do. I'm not asking you to confess your deeply devoted affections to him, I'm just saying…if you have the chance…give this a shot."

He cleared his throat.

"You need love Ame. Just like everyone else. And you DESERVE to be happy, and if Envy makes you happy then…then okay."

Ame raised an eyebrow.

"You have…no problem with this?"

"No. No, I do worry for you Ame. I know I act pretty calm, but seriously, I'm not half the time. So far, Envy seems the least likely to harm you out of every enemy of yours I've met. Please, just…be careful."

"I usually am."

"I know."

Ame tried hard not to smile, but eventually she gave up and shared a grin with her friend.

"Uh, Ling?"

A sudden, rather worrying realization had hit her.

"You, uh, won't tell Edward…will you?"

"…I won't tell Ed DIRECTLY."

"You problematic ass."

"Hey, Edward held me at automail point, I had no choice."

"Fine, whatever."

Ling glanced down at his watch, then looked up at Ame again and smiled.

"I have to go now, my ride leaves in ten minutes, which is about how long it will take to get across that hall."

Ame nodded.

"Alright, tell everyone I miss them, and tell Ed I love him and not to worry about me."

"Of course. And Ame? Promise me you'll at least think about these feelings with Envy?"

"Fine."

"Good girl."

He turned, walking across the terrace, back towards the curtain behind which the party lay. He paused, hand on the velvet cloth, turning to look at her once more.

"One last thing Ame."

"Yes?"

"If you need help, at any time, contact us. We are here to support you."

"I know."

And with that, Ling was gone, and all that remained to tell Ame he had ever even been there was the fluttering of the curtain, leaving her alone in the night.

**oOoOo**

**A/N:** ...AND THEN LING WAS THERE.

Yup. I needed someone new in there somehow. =_= My brain was failing me. I apologize.

But LOOK! Jealousy, comfort, talking about Ame's issues- Yeah. We're gettin' somewhere now.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Deciding and Depending

Ame fell back against the door to her and Envy's shared room with a soft groan of relief. Envy sat on their bed, practically ripping off his boots and throwing them across the room. Before she could blink he had wrenched the dress over his head, leaving the homunculi in a pair of boxers that had been shortened so they didn't show beneath the dress's skirt. For once, Ame didn't bother averting her eyes as he rummaged through his things for night clothes, too busy sinking to the floor and undoing the ties to her own heels.

"I am NEVER wearing heels EVER FUCKING AGAIN." Envy snarled, flopping back to sit on the bed, black night pants in one hand, rubbing at his abused foot. "How do you girls STAND them? Or in them for that matter?"

"I don't." Ame grumbled. "As for the remainder of my gender, I have no idea. They're all insane, as far as I'm concerned."

"I can't say I disagree."

Envy had dropped his usual sleepwear onto the bed beside him and had crossed his legs, giving himself a thorough foot massage, wincing every now and again. Standing up again, Ame walked over to her own chest of drawers and opened one drawer to find her black pajamas waiting for her as always. Like Envy, she pulled off her dress (albeit a bit more gently), and let it fall to the floor.

If Envy felt any kind of embarrassment about seeing her in nothing but her bra and the pair of hot-pants she had insisted on wearing under her dress, he said nothing. She pulled on the pants, but decided on grabbing a white muscle shirt that at one time had belonged to Edward (before she stole it from Winry, who had stole it from him) for a shirt instead. Pulling this on as well, she turned to watch Envy, who was now rubbing at his temples.

"Headache back?"

He nodded once as a response.

Ame crawled onto their shared bed, moving until she was positioned behind him. Raising her hands, Ame rubbed gently at his jawbone, moving down to his neck, then his shoulders.

Envy let out a shaky sigh of relief, tilting his head back into her touch, which she didn't argue against for a second. As her hands moved down his back, she tugged the ribbon from his braid and undid his hair, slowly working out what few knots there were.

Unlike the rest of the world's hair, Envy's didn't crinkle after being in a braid, it just went right on back to being straight as always. She smiled to herself at this observation, taking a moment to run her hands through his silky locks.

Once she was through with his hair, Envy turned around and motioned for her to turn. Doing as told, Ame faced away from her partner and watched in the mirror as he reciprocated her actions in undoing her hair. Curing once or twice over the bobby pins, he finally managed to pull her hair free from the bun it had been in and it once more fell about her face. Envy paused, glancing at the ends of her peony colored hair.

"Your hair…"

"What about it?"

"It's longer."

Ame raised her hand and fingered the hair Envy had been just moments before looking at. Where it had previously just barely touched her shoulders, it now lay neatly against them, long enough to pull back in a small ponytail.

"Oh… So it is. I hadn't noticed." she mumbled.

Envy laughed, running his fingers unabashedly through her hair.

"It looks good, you should let it grow out some, you'd look cute with a ponytail or something."

Ame quirked a small smile.

"How about I think about it?"

"Fine, be no fun."

They shared a soft laugh.

Floors below them, the party was still going on, Rydel at its center as ever, Emma, drunk and having the time of her life, and Maurice off in a corner gossiping about fashion with a whole host of teenage girls. The "siblings" however, had felt thoroughly tired after another three hours of partying, and after a quick word to Rydel, they had allowed themselves to retreat. They had no idea what time it was, and they didn't particularly care either, it didn't matter.

They weren't quite tired yet, but they were getting there, so whatever time it was, it wasn't quite late enough.

Envy hopped off the bed and grabbed his sleeping pants, pulling them on before flopping once more back on the bed so his head landed beside Ame's crossed legs.

"So, what did Mr. "Ambassador" want?"

Ame absentmindedly fiddle with the hem of her pants leg.

"Nothing much, general update I suppose. He really didn't say much military wise."

Envy hummed in response, closing his eyes.

"Moral support huh? You've got good friends."

"I do indeed."

He laughed.

"Y'know, when I looked up and saw him, all I could think was, fuck you gotta be kidding me. I mean, I was in a DRESS for fuck's sake."

Ame joined in his laughter.

"He did ask about that."

"And what did you say?"

"I launched in from the top and told him everything."

When Envy shifted his position so his head was laying against her knee, Ame didn't push him away. Instead, she threaded her fingers into his hair, tugging lightly at the inky black-green locks and rubbing his scalp.

"You and he are close…?" Envy questioned softly.

"Not really." she answered calmly. "He's from my homeland, we share a common love for our country and desire to see it thrive, I suppose."

Envy seemed satisfied with this answer as he questioned no more on the matter. It was nice to know that he was doing as she had asked and trusting in her in such a way. She really WASN'T all that close to Ling, closer than others, sure, but not much more, really.

"Man, I was so annoyed tonight. Mostly at Ling."

"How come?"

Envy laughed.

"It's stupid."

"So you say. C'mon, tell me!"

"Really, you'll laugh."

"Will not."

Ame frowned down at Envy, even though his eyes were closed. She knew he could tell she was giving him one of her looks by the way his lips twitched in a mental battle between a frown of his own and a smile.

"I was jealous. He got to dance with you and I didn't, I really wanted to too…"

Without meaning to, Ame flushed bright pink, putting even her hair to shame.

"You….I…uhm…" Ame cleared her throat. "I, uh, guess I owe you a dance then."

"You mean it?"

"I mean it."

Envy smiled, and even though his eyes were STILL closed and he couldn't see her, Ame smiled back. She couldn't help it, his happiness was practically contagious.

They lapsed into silence once again, Envy rearranging himself once more so his head was fully in Ame's lap, each thinking their own thoughts. Ame continued playing with her companion's hair, and he didn't make a single move to stop her, actually smile lightly as she did. After a while, Envy spoke once again.

"You guys must have gone over just about every detail, huh?"

There was no doubt he was talking about Ame and Ling.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you were out there for a good hour and a half at the least."

Ame bit her bottom lip, worrying it compulsively. She had two options here, either lie and say yes, they had just taken a while to go over everything, or tell the truth. The truth, of course, included the fact that she was thinking about…no…she had DECIDED about them. Them as a…thing. An item. Whatever people were calling it nowadays.

"I…uh…we actually talked about something…else too." she cleared her throat. "About…us."

Envy's eyes fluttered open so his clear amethyst eyes could stare calmly into hers. He neither pushed forward nor retracted, just watched her, calmly, carefully, assessing her. Ame gathered he was waiting for her to continue, but she wasn't sure where to go from there, in all honesty. She had never done this before, it was new territory for her.

Besides, she wasn't sure how she felt about this…change. She couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing, whether she wanted this to be her answer or not. No matter what she said, yes or no, it would change what had formed between them forever, no questions asked. The change could be good or bad, deadly or sweet, and Ame wasn't sure which would have what outcome anymore. Was she prepared to risk their small friendship wit what was building in her throat?

Could she REALLY give this answer and hope for the best? Was she even ready for this? It had only been a MONTH for crying out loud!

And yet the way she felt around Envy…it was different than around everyone else. Not necessarily calm, not really angered, more…at ease with the world. She could handle what was coming at her better as long as Envy was there with her and that freaked her out. Depending on someone else was not something she was accustomed to in the least.

But here, now, there was no more time for this contemplation, either she shut up and backed out like a coward or she plowed on and hoped for the best. This moment defined how willing she was to accept this change.

"He noticed how things were…changing, between the two of us."

Stalling was never the answer, and yet Ame was panicking, mentally having a heart attack. She couldn't do this she couldn't do this she couldn't do this she couldn't- Oh what the hell kind of COWARD was she? Edward would never back out of something like this! If he was here, in the moment, he would give his answer and wait for the explosion.

Oh but Ame had never had his guts. Sure they shared a similar amount of brains, but he'd always been the reckless, gutsy one. She and all always just stood back and let him run on ahead until he tired himself out and they could catch up.

But this silence was suffocating, unnerving, gut-wrenching. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, her pulse was thrumming in her ears, she felt cold and hot at the same time. This had never happened to her before, she'd never had to handle so many emotions all at once, so many choices. Ame cut emotions out of herself and her life for a reason, they made everything harder, she just…couldn't deal.

Swallowing the lump forming in the back of her throat, Ame closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She was dimly aware of Envy sitting up, sitting cross legged, close enough that their knees touched. His hands took hers, gently into a firm but reassuring grasp as she tried to work out what her mind was telling her mouth to say.

Taking in a breath that was just as shaky as the one she had let out, Ame opened her eyes again, facing Envy fully now. As soon as their eyes connected, she averted hers. She couldn't look him in the eye, she just couldn't.

"I…" she swallowed again. "I want…this….thing. Whatever…it is. I-I want to…to at least try it. At least…see where it goes…"

She was sure she heard a hitch in Envy's breath, but she didn't dwell on it and ploughed on in what she was saying, trying to get it all out before her nerve failed her entirely.

"But-but I'm really not good at this whole…intimacy thing. Relationships I can do, intimacy, that's a whole other thing. I'm the last kitsune. People have tried to do things to me that I'm surprised hasn't turned me into a fucking nun or something."

She felt Envy's hands clench around hers, though out of anger, or as a sign of comfort, she wasn't totally sure.

"And it's just…I…DAMNIT I can't DO this!" she growled, utterly frustrated with herself. "I WANT to, I mean, fuck-"

She cut herself off, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut, trying to get what she was saying out.

"I don't depend on people. I don't have partners. I don't work with others. I have people I protect and people I care about and that's IT. I can't DO this whole…couple-depend on one another-work together forever-thing."

Envy remained silent as she took another breath.

"I can't promise how good at this I'm going to be, how much I'm going to be able to contribute but I can try. That's all I can promise you Envy. That I will try. I will try my damnedest to let you in and show you what about me you don't know but you have to be patient with me, give me time…"

She sounded like such a ninny, asking for more time like that.

Envy had already GIVEN her time to think things over and get used to this idea, and here she was, stuck in the middle all over again. She could be so childish and cowardly sometimes, it was pathetic.

"Time is all I have Ame, all we have. Take as long as you need to get used to this, but let me help you along the way." Envy murmured.

"How?" Ame muttered to the wall, still refusing to look at him.

"Starting like this."

Ame felt his hands pull away from hers and reposition themselves on either side of her hips, before Envy leaned forward and pressed his lips to the corner of hers, waiting to see if she would pull away. When she did not, he moved over a fraction of an inch so their lips were fully connected in their second kiss ever.

This kiss was different than their first. Their first kiss had just been there, just been a press of the lips as if to say; "I'm here, this is what I want". But now it held emotion, held motive, held so much that Ame was sure she was going to be overwhelmed by it all. It said "I care for you" and "I want you" and "believe in me" and "trust me" and "feel me" all at once, as if Envy was trying to tell her that this would, could, HAD TO work between them.

She couldn't bring herself to even remotely disagree.

Envy pulled back, just an inch or so, and they both let out a shallow breath. They had not needed to breathe, the kiss had not lasted that long, and there had been nothing breath-taking about it. The emotion surely robbed Ame of the ability to fully comprehend where this was taking her, but she could breathe and think just fine thanks.

For a moment, they just sat there, watching each other, breathing in and out through their mouths, eyes connected, thoughts mixing, worlds finally colliding. It wasn't the last kitsune and the homunculus anymore, it was Ame and Envy, two people who found themselves irresponsibly, impossibly, irrevocably falling in love with each other for no apparent logical reason. It was an age old tale and yet when it was real, it was so different, so alive, so electrified, that those mushy romance novels didn't seem so foolish now.

Slowly, Envy leaned back in, and Ame met him halfway, meshing their lips into a small connection of heart and body, allowing them to once more delve into the emotions the other held. As Envy advanced on Ame, slowly, gently, leaning her back so she slipped onto her back, head hitting the mattress, he felt her emotions shift. There was fear, nervousness, apprehension, in every movement she made and he knew when to stop.

His body wasn't pressed against hers, there was a good four inches between them, thanks to the way he was resting on his arms, arching down to keep their lips connected. He wasn't on top of her either, not fully, about half of his torso was above hers, but nothing more than that. He knew better than to do anything more at this juncture in their relationship, trapping Ame was a bad idea. She needed to know that if she wanted, she could get away.

Envy swore to himself then and there that he would always, ALWAYS give her that option.

They pulled apart again, and Ame raised her hands, cupping Envy's face. He didn't move as her fingers roamed over his features, running over his eyebrows, tracing his lips, mapping his cheeks and jaw. Closing his eyes, he lost himself in the feeling of Ame touching him, of her freely, of her own will, feeling him, running her fingers across his skin.

It was innocent, exploratory, just her way of becoming familiar with her…boyfriend? That was so cliché. Lover? Well, that insinuated that they had, uh, "made love" or something… Friend with benefits? No, no, friends with benefits did NOT include love…

It didn't matter what he was to her. What mattered was that he meant something at all.

Leaning up, Ame brushed their lips again and Envy shivered. She was so…so…gah! Innocent, pure, untarnished, a whole host of other things he just didn't deserve to even be near. And here she was, hands back to cupping his face, pressing their lips together in the most chaste of kisses, as if it was just them in the world and they had all the time on earth to build up to passion.

And they did. Envy would and could wait an eternity to have anything more than this sweetness given to him. He knew he didn't deserve this to begin with but he had it now, and he would never turn it away.

They pulled apart again and Ame lay back on the bed, hands falling to Envy's wrists, running over the veins on the undersides, causing him to both shiver and laugh at the same time. She smiled softly, but her eyes were sad and when she spoke, it was softly.

"I'm scared of this."

He kissed her cheek softly.

"Of what?"

"Of how you make me feel, of how you claim I make you feel, of this…heat that appears inside my chest every time you kiss me. I'm not used to it. I can't tell if I like it."

He watched her as she paused, before continuing, voice softer still.

"I'm scared of depending on others. I'm scared of trying to let others in. I'm just…scared."

Envy wasn't quite sure what to say, he'd never been a comfort-er, so instead, he acted. He slipped one arm around Ame's shoulders, the other around her waist, maneuvering the both of them, with her eventual aid, so they were laying with their heads on the pillows. He grabbed the blanket at the foot of their bed and pulled it up around them before once more taking Ame into his protective embrace.

Even though he didn't speak, she seemed to understand, snuggling closer to him, tucking her head under his chin. Envy quirked a small smile, internally doing a victory dance when she allowed him to nuzzle her hair.

For the first time, but not at all the last, they fell asleep wrapped around each other, cocooned from the world around them.

**oOoOo**

**A/N: **

Yeah. NOW we're gettin' somewhere alright...

*shakes fist* ROMANTIC SAP! YA HAPPY NOW YA HOUNDS?

And yes. They need to get together now, no it wasn't too quick. I actually have this whole story planned out to the Epilogue, so, actually, this is perfectly timed for everything. 8D AND YEW SHALL SEES WAI.

Later.

A lot of people have offered to draw Envy and Ame in their dresses, so I'll be posting links in my Author's Comments as they come to me. I hope you guys give them the same support you give me. X3


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